


Cannonball

by nekojita



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - House of M, F/M, M/M, Plotbunnies, Slow Build, don't want to give away too much, more characters to follow - Freeform, will add more tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-04 19:52:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 93,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3086699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekojita/pseuds/nekojita
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A House of M AU where Billy is the dutiful child of the Magnus royal family, burning himself out as he obeys his grandfather's every command. Half a world away, Teddy strives to start a new life for himself. As Billy's talent grows stronger, he inadvertently draws attention to himself, attention that draws others to Genosha as well. What is the ultimate end game?</p><p>(yes, I hate coming up with summaries, especially when I don't want to give too much away)</p><p>Main focus on the Young Avengers, Billy/Teddy pairing with some others thrown in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I've had this plot bunny for AGES and I figured I might as well get it started. As stated, the primary focus is going to be on the Young Avengers characters set in the House of M universe, but w/ an AU twist (so a few things changed around from the series). Some of the other Marvel characters will be brought in to help flesh out the plot, but they will mainly be there for the sake of the plot. Look for more characters to show up along the way, but I usually add them to the tags as they appear so as to not give away spoilers (though maybe you can figure out the one character being foreshadowed in this chapter...).
> 
> As noted, there will be a slow build to the M rating. Sorry. Me and my love for plot....

*******

It was the cusp of dawn when Billy teleported onto a part of the eastern beach of Genosha, the waves crashing quietly against the white beaches. The only other sound was the occasional squawk of pelicans and petrels as they hunted for fish, and he hovered over the water for a moment as he breathed in deep the scent of brine and fresh air. The magic slowly built inside of him, lured out by the environment, by the melding of ocean and air, of night and day, of the seeming stretch of nothing but elements looming on before him, of stars crashing into waves….

*Focus*, he chided himself as he took another deep breath and clutched the heavy velvet of his red cloak tighter around his chest. He was here for a reason, one he wasn’t that certain about but was obligated to fulfil. He closed his eyes to center himself for a moment before he opened them and stared out across the ocean and then focused his thoughts on what his grandfather wanted – what he seemed to be spending so much of his talent upon lately.

He had to think carefully of this latest request, of what his grandfather had asked of him this time. It would be difficult, he had sensed that much, and had decided to attempt it when things were mostly quiet so he wouldn’t be interrupted. When his thoughts were appropriately still and the magic thrummed through his veins, he attempted to unleash it upon the world.

“ _IwantourownoilreservesIwantourownoilreservesIwantourownoilreserves_.” He kept repeating the chant as the magic built up and spilled out of him, the world turning blue before him as it encompassed the ocean and beyond. It felt as if he was connected to everything, the swells of water and the life swimming beneath it, to the heat simmering beneath the crust of the earth and the cold of the sky, the cold… was that something else there? Something alien, something…. And then the magic began draining out of him, began rushing from his very center, from his veins and left him *aching*. It wasn’t until he was hovering only a couple of inches from the ground due to exhaustion that the world slowly returned to normal, the waves crashing back into the beach and a cautious ‘caw’ from a bird here or there, letting him know that the magic had finished.

He slowly tumbled onto the beach, the sand damp and cool beneath his fingers as they dug into the malleable surface, his breaths coming in ragged pants. There was little he could do for what felt forever than just breathe in and out, so utterly drained that he could barely lift his head. His dark bangs almost touched the sand, his hood hanging forward as well, and when the water began to creep forward into his dimming sight he finally summoned the dregs of his magic to wish himself somewhere safe.

The last thing he remembered before blackness took over was the scent of flowers, of roses and geraniums and lilies and-

*******

Warmth. There was warmth beneath his cheek and a gentle touch to his forehead. Billy moaned softly and nuzzled the softness that was beneath him, a familiar scent teasing at his memory.

“Oh William….” The gentle touch ran through his hair as he tried to place that voice, his eyes fluttering open. He groaned a little as the sunlight caused first his eyes to ache and then his head, and turned his face into the soft red fabric covering the bent knees upon which his head rested.

“Rahne, bring some tea for him.”

Realization smashed into William, making him attempt to push up into a sitting position. He mostly succeeded, even as the mild ache in his head morphed into a full-blown migraine; he moaned in pain and leaned against his mother for support.

“There, there, dear,” she soothed as she combed her fingers through his hair. “It’ll be all right.”

“Mother,” he murmured as he rested his head on his shoulder and closed his eyes. Somehow his last teleportation spell had brought him here instead of back to his own quarters – he supposed this was just as ‘safe’. His body relaxed into her warmth as the comforting touch continued. Even though they were nearly the same height, she easily supported him just then.

“What were you up to last night, hmm?” Despite it being a question, she didn’t give him any time to answer. “You’ll drink some tea and then Rahne will take you to your bed. You need some sleep, young man.”

“Yes, Mother.” As always, he never argued with her, so happy to have her attention on him, to feel her love and to make her happy in any manner.

“And you’ll get some rest.” She pressed a kiss against his temple and hummed a little. “You’re growing up so much. My little William….”

“Sorry for dropping in like this.”

She laughed a little and gave his hair a gentle tug. “Oh hush, you know you’re always welcome here. Such a sight you were, sleeping amidst my roses. I almost had Rahne take a picture before waking you, it was so cute.” She laughed again when he wrinkled his nose. “William… you need to look after yourself,” she said a moment later, her tone serious.

Somehow he managed to lift his head so he could look at her, at how lovely she was with her brown curls falling around her face and her brown eyes almost filled with tears in concern over him. “I’m fine, Mother. Just… just a bit of magic that got away from me.” It was mostly the truth. “You know I’ll use any excuse to stop by for some of your tea.”

He doubted that she bought that excuse – Wanda might be the most sheltered of Eric Lehnsherr’s children because of her lack of a mutant gene, but she was far from naive. However, she was aware of the demands that her father placed on his progeny – well, those who could live up to his expectations – so merely leaned in to give Billy a tender kiss on the forehead. “You’re welcome here any time. I cherish your visits – at least you seem to remember your dear old mother.”

“Hardly ‘old’,” Billy scoffed, just as Rahne returned with the tea set on a platter. The wolf shifter bowed her head as she approached, fair skin flushed nearly as red as her short hair, and set the tray on the ground near the two of them.

“Thank you,” Wanda told the young woman before she reached out to pour some tea for them both. “I’ll need you to take William back to his quarters in a few minutes.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Rahne bowed her head again and moved backwards, until she almost blended in with the pale carnations and roses behind her due to the pale grey robe that she wore.

Billy almost protested that he didn’t need any help getting back to his rooms, that he could teleport himself, but he still felt so drained from earlier – how long had it been? His hands trembled when he accepted the cup of tea that his mother handed him and it took almost too much energy to hold the delicate porcelain steady enough to drink from it. Yet the blend of black tea and roses seemed to soothe him, to provide an iota of strength that he desperately needed just then.

Before he knew it, the cup was empty and he felt sleepy again, his chin dipping toward his chest. “Hmm, get some rest,” his mother urged him as she waved Rahne forward. “Stop by once you’re better.”

“Yes, Mother,” Billy answered, doing his best to keep the words from slurring. He felt a slight hint of embarrassment when Rahne shifted into her partial wolf form to pick him up and carry him away, but he was too tired to object – all he wanted just then was his own bed so he could sleep forever. At least this time he had the taste of his mother’s tea on his tongue and the lingering feel of her gentle hand on his forehead as he faded back into the darkness.

*******

“-be there for the ceremony!”

“And I’m telling you that you can go *fuck* yourself and *fuck* the ceremony!”

“Do you understand how important this is? King-“

“No, I don’t give a shit who’s there, right now I just know that Billy’s still sleeping off whatever the hell it is that Grandfather asked of him this time, so you tell the old man to go to hell! He can’t keep doing this, snapping at Billy to change the damn world to suit him and then expecting him to jump through some silly fucking hoops!”

Billy moaned as the voices grew louder and more strident, and tugged a soft, fluffy pillow from beneath his head so he could try to cover his ears. He was *tired*, dammit, didn’t they understand that? A tiny voice inside his head whispered that he could *make* them quiet, that he could make everything quiet, but just as he began to summon the magic inside of him, the voices stilled. He let out a long sigh because he really was tired and would rather sleep than cast another spell right now.

“Fine, I’ll tell Father, but you’ll have to answer to him eventually.”

“Oh, grow a damn pair, Uncle Pietro!”

Billy moaned again and wondered if he shouldn’t have used the magic after all. Yet before he could try to summon it, there was the sound of a door slamming and then a strange breeze ruffled the blanket covering Billy before the pillow was snatched from his head.

“Hey there, Sleeping Beauty. It’s about time you woke up.”

Billy blinked his blurry eyes a few times and then finally focused upon his brother, who was standing there with his pillow clutched in his hands. “Tommy,” he groaned. “Let me sleep, dammit.” He made a failed attempt to swat at the bastard, which of course the speedster dodged without any effort.

“Nope, you’ve already slept an entire day, you know? You really need to get up and eat.” Tommy moved with blinding speed to tug Billy up into a sleeping position. “It’s 6pm on Thursday.”

“What?” Billy gave up on struggling with his twin so he could stare at him in shock – he’d gone out to try to do something about Genosha’s lack of oil reserves on Wednesday morning. “You’re joking.”

“No, I’m not. We’re supposed to be at some fancy dinner for King T’Challa, remember?” Tommy sighed in what seemed to be annoyance and fussed with Billy’s hair for a moment. “You’re really out of it, you know. What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Uhm… I went out to the ocean to do what Grandfather asked of me, and then ended up in Mom’s garden rather than here.” He shrugged when Tommy’s eyes went wide at that bit of news. “She gave me some tea and had Rahne bring me here, and… that’s it.”

“Eh, that explains why the room smelled of dog when I found you tucked into bed, and Uncle Pietro’s pissy attitude.” Their uncle always believed that they wore their mother out with their visits, even when she insisted that they stop by. “So, you gonna tell me what you did for Grandfather this time?” Tommy’s green eyes narrowed in suspicion as he repeatedly poked Billy in the left shoulder.

“Ow! Stop that!” Billy scowled and grabbed at a lock of his brother’s white hair in retaliation before the idiot could use his super speed to pull away.

“Come on! Spill the beans!” It looked as if Tommy was going to try another tactic just then, maybe tickling Billy or something rougher, but he seemed to remember that Billy was still tired just in time. “I stood up to Uncle Pietro for you,” he cajoled.

“Please, you live to twist his tail,” Billy scoffed before he finally gave in; he never had been good at standing up to his brother when Tommy really wanted something. “Let’s just say that if everything went well yesterday, that Grandfather won’t have to go through with signing any more contracts for future oil shipments.”

Tommy stared at him for several seconds as if he hadn’t said anything, and then he began to curse beneath his breath while reaching out to grasp Billy’s face beneath his hands. “You friggen idiot,” he told Billy while shaking his head back and forth. “No wonder you were out like one of the dead – how much did it cost you this time?”

Billy clutched at his twin’s wrists and gave him a reassuring smile. “It wasn’t… I’m fine,” he insisted. “It wasn’t that much worse than anything else he’s asked of me.”

“’That much worse’?” Tommy’s voice became louder and higher with each word. “Like it wasn’t bad enough when he had you fuck with a tropical cyclone or two, or to twist an election. Now he’s having you mess with the very earth?”

This was just…. Billy closed his eyes and leaned forward to rest his head against his brother’s shoulder. “He has his reasons. It’s… it’s for the good….” Yeah, he didn’t want to think too much right now. Grandfather always had some very sound arguments at the time, arguments that made Billy seem like an ingrate of a grandson if he tried to refuse.

Tommy couldn’t even speak – what came out just then was an inarticulate sound of fury and concern as he hugged Billy close. They remained that way for a couple of minutes until Billy’s stomach rumbled, the sound loud in the sudden quiet of the room.

“You stupid idiot,” Tommy mumbled against the top of Billy’s head. “Stay here until I come back with some food, okay?”

“’Kay.” Billy sat up when his brother let go and watched as the white and blue blur vanished from the room, then gathered up his missing pillow so he could sit propped up in bed while he waited. He noticed that Tommy had appeared dressed more for a night out clubbing than for a formal affair and wondered if he’d be left alone yet again in their rooms once he’d been stuffed with whatever food Tommy snatched from the kitchens; he didn’t begrudge Tommy his adventures away from the palace, but he had to wonder sometimes what it would be like if their powers were reversed. Tommy got away with so much more as the speedster and the outgoing twin, while Grandfather made certain to keep Billy very close….

He held up his right hand and summoned up a bit of lightning, the blue sparks dancing around his fingers and making him smile. If only this and the ability to fly were truly his only gifts – the gifts that everyone outside of the family were led to believe that he possessed. Maybe then he could sneak out of the palace on a regular basis without Grandfather and Uncle Pietro seeming to care, and maybe he could get away with shirking his duties despite not being the oldest twin. There were days when he felt like a literal genie in a bottle, trapped inside these walls as he handed out wishes, a golden leash around his neck that led back to his grandfather’s hand… but what could he do? His family was all he knew, all he cared about in this world, and he was all too aware of what would happen if his family were proven to be too weak to protect the mutants who looked to them for guidance and safety. All his life, his grandfather and uncle had made sure that he knew about the tragedies his people had suffered before his grandfather had come to rule Genosha, and it was his duty to ensure that those tragedies were never repeated.

Still… was it so much to dream of a semi-normal life?

The sparks were still dancing about when Tommy burst back into the room with a large platter almost overflowing with food in his right hand and two bottles of wine tucked under his left arm. “ThefoodtheyhaveoutthereisCRAZY,” he spat out as he barely came to a halt at the foot of Billy’s bed.

Laughing a little as he willed the sparks away, Billy sat up straighter in bed, grateful that Rahne or whoever had put him into it yesterday had left him dressed in the plain long-sleeved tshirt and cotton pants he’d worn beneath his cloak so he could just push the sheets aside and stumble his way over to the small table a few feet away. “Great, so we’re not missing out on much.”

“Eh, there were a few cute babes out there, but none of them as hot as this one chick I’m seeing.” Tommy began flicking the stuffed grape leaves onto Billy’s plate since he knew that he liked those, and kept the stuffed olives for himself. The salmon was divided up equally, and Billy got the quail while Tommy wolfed down the prime rib. Billy liked the risotto enough that Tommy let him have it, and ate the macaroni and cheese with truffles instead. When it came to the desserts… well, that was a free for all, and considering that Billy could pit his magic against Tommy’s speed, they came out about even.

They split one of the wine bottles between them, a rare treat since usually their uncle or their aunt was careful to watch how much they drank and limited them to a glass or two, which was probably why Tommy grinned and pointed a finger at Billy while he licked at a spoonful of dark chocolate mousse. “There’s also a lot of cute guys out there, too.”

Billy didn’t have a problem with his sexuality, so he didn’t understand where his brother was going with this. “Your point?”

Tommy just waved his hand about as he opened the other bottle up and poured Billy some more wine before taking the bottle and himself across the room. “Just saying that you should have a bit more fun.”

As if Billy’s idea of ‘fun’ was to fool around with someone who would either be gone in the next day or two or would just be using him in an attempt to get through to his grandfather. “No thanks, I’m happy with how things are right now,” he lied.

His brother made a rude noise at that statement and then took a swig from the wine bottle. “You need to come out with me and Kate one night. We’ll show you a fun time.”

Ah, so the new girlfriend was called ‘Kate’. Billy didn’t let any of his interest show as he pushed away the empty dessert dish and made his way back to his bed. “Maybe some night.” Some night when Grandfather wasn’t watching him like a hawk, which was… oh, never?

Tommy seemed to realize that was his polite way of saying ‘yeah, right’ and rolled his eyes. “I’m serious, it’s about time you got laid or something.” When Billy gave him the finger for being so rude, Tommy laughed and darted over to ruffle his hair. “My widdle baby brother,” he crooned. “Look, you feeling better now?” All traces of humor was gone from him as he stared intently at Billy.

“Yeah, the food really helped.” Billy smiled gently at Tommy as he pushed against his chest. “Go on, get out of here.” When his brother hesitated, he laughed a little. “All I’m going to do is get a shower and probably sleep some more – you’ll drive me crazy if you hang out here all night so leave.”

“Okay,” Tommy seemed a little reluctant as he stepped back. “I’ll have my phone on me – if Uncle Pietro or Grandfather stop by to give you any shit, call me immediately.”

“I will,” Billy promised.

His brother still seemed a little uncertain as he began to gather up all of the empty dishes. “Let me get rid of these for you.” He turned to study Billy for a moment before he picked up the tray. “You are just going to stay here tonight, right?”

“Where else would I go?” Billy kept any bitterness he secretly felt from seeping into the question and continued to smile until Tommy nodded and wished him a good night before leaving.

Finally alone, as he was most nights, Billy sighed and got up from bed so he could gather up a clean set of clothes and take a shower – maybe enjoy a soak while he was at it. If he wasn’t too tired after that, he could catch up on the shows he’d missed yesterday. Ah, the exciting life of a modern prince….

*******

Tommy slowed down as he wove through the streets of Camden Town and resisted the urge to yank out a piercing or two along the way – really, was Kate so bored that she was willing to play up the rich girl gone bad image like this? Well, not that he could really blame her when here he was, out unsupervised on another *continent* instead of at some formal dinner, but he had a few more issues than a distant daddy and a… well, he had a few more issues.

He came to a stop in a dark alley and then strolled out, all cocky attitude and self-confidence as he tugged his cap a little farther down the back of his head, and no one seemed to pay him that much attention. One thing he’d learned over the years was if he didn’t make that big of a deal with his appearance, that if he wore nice enough clothes but not *that* nice, tried *just* hard enough, that people might take a double-look at him but then go ‘nah, that *can’t* be Prince Thomas Magnus, it’s just some kid wannabe’. After all, Prince Thomas Magnus wouldn’t be strolling around in grey skinny jeans torn at the knee that didn’t cost just shy of a thousand dollars, in a hoodie that anyone could buy in the nearest department store or ankle boots that were nice but had seen better days. Yep, just another kid who’d been told ‘you know you look like...” and who’d gone out and bought some hair bleach on a dare. That was him.

Especially since he was headed into ‘FUDs’, a club whose name supposedly stood for ‘Fuck U Darwin’. Oh, no one would come out and claim it was a human only establishment, no one would *dare*, but the vibe was distinctly anti-mutant, was that the poor humans needed a place where they could retreat and lick their wounds while downing some pints. Tommy had to wonder what his grandfather would make of such a place.

He gave the bouncer/doorman a huge grin when he handed over one of his fake IDs and a 20 note. The bounce, built like a bull with his shaggy dark hair falling around his tattooed face, grunted softly as he motioned at the tufts of white hair poking out of the cap. “Not funny, kid.”

“Aw, but I made a killing on the bet. No one thought I’d go through with it.” Tommy continued to grin as he waited to see if the guy bought the excuse, refusing to lose any of his habitual cockiness. The bouncer gave him the stink-eye for a few more seconds before handing back the ID and waving him inside.

Inside, FUDs was full of smoke and noise and mostly beautiful young people desperate to get either drunk, high or both and do stupid things – and not an obvious mutant in sight. Really, this didn’t seem like Kate. By the time Tommy tracked her down, his limited patience was mostly done in by the inebriated idiots he’d had to step around to avoid being smacked into or have drinks spilled on him as they twitched about to what he could only suppose was ‘music’. Thank whatever higher power there was that he didn’t have enhanced hearing, even if keeping to a ‘human’ pace made the past five minutes seem like five hours….

“KATE! How are you? Great to see you! Can we leave now?” He rushed up to her at a barely restrained speed and mushed his lips into her left cheek.

She’d been frowning at another woman who was yelling something about needing more shots at one of the busy bartenders, but turned to face him with evident surprise. Dressed a bit more elaborately than the rest of the crowd in a pretty, dark purple sleeveless dress that did *amazing* things to her curves and with her dark hair pulled back in a twist, she laughed a little as she pushed him away. “T! I didn’t think you’d show up here. Are you crazy?”

“Yeah, only for you, gorgeous.” He waggled his eyebrows at her for a few seconds until she shook her head. “What say we-“

“One moment.” She leaned over to the other woman, who was equally overdressed and gave her left shoulder a shake. “Allison! They’re a bit busy right now, so stop yelling at them like that!”

The blond girl turned to glare at Kate – or at least attempt to, since it seemed she was a bit too intoxicated to manage it very well. “But Robby and I want our drinks.”

“I think the two of you have had enough already.”

“No we haven’t, we-“ The blonde girl, Allison, seemed to finally notice Tommy standing beside Kate and frowned. “Oh, it’s you again.”

“Yeah, nice to see you, too.” Tommy didn’t bother to put much enthusiasm in his voice.

Allison waved him aside and then shrugged off Kate’s hand. “Gonna find Robby.”

Kate didn’t appear too happy just then, but she was quiet while watched her friend leave. “Why is it that some people never learn,” she asked, her voice so forlorn that he could pick it up even over the trash that was pouring out over the speakers.

“Eh, I thought that was basically the human condition.” Look at the way that Billy was draining himself dry trying to please their grandfather, at how Tommy ran so fast and so far yet never seemed to get anywhere. At how Kate might hang out with her party friends like this yet never seemed to make her father pay her any attention – well, if that was why she did all of this; Tommy had to admit that he didn’t know her that well yet. He’d just been infatuated with the lovely, self-assured young woman he’d met one day at some boring function his uncle had insisted he’d attend and been chasing her down ever since. “So, you wanna dance?”

Kate took a moment to think about that before gracing him with a smile and holding out her right hand. “Oh why not – can’t make this evening any worse, can it?”

“I like your confidence, Princess,” Tommy teased as he pulled her onto the dance floor, laughter trailing after him. He managed to find them a bit of space and they did their best to dance to the awful bass that seemed intent on bludgeoning them that poured out of the various speakers scattered about, but he judged it to be about half an hour before they both looked at each other and silently decided to ditch the club.

This time it was Kate’s turn to latch onto his wrist and haul him along, toward the nearest exit. “There *has* to be a better club around here somewhere,” she shouted over the music as they circled around the writhing crowd on the dance floor.

“What, you mean this wasn’t your pick for the night?”

She tossed a grimace over her bare shoulder and shook her head. “Blame Robby for that one.” She must have spotted an exit door because she picked up her pace, moving rather quickly considering the heels she was wearing. “Ah… is that a relief,” she practically moaned once they reached the outside, where it was considerably cooler and a hell of a lot quieter. She shivered a little in the night air, making Tommy wish that he’d worn a decent coat or something so he could give it to her, and began to dig through the tiny clutch that she held in her left hand while they walked toward the main road. “Let me call a cab – you want a bite to eat? I know this-“

He’d been so fixated on Kate and happy to get out of the noisy club that he hadn’t noticed the figures lurking around the entrance of the side alley, not until he heard someone cry out and then the flash of lights. Startled by the familiar sound of lenses clicking and flashes going off, he reacted without thinking and grabbed onto Kate before dashing off, just wanting to get away from the paparazzi. She cursed in his ear as he whizzed on by them, her left hand digging into his right arm, and he didn’t stop until… yeah, this was the South Bank, wasn’t it? His feet finally slowed down around the Tate Museum, the parking lot deserted this time of night. “Sorry,” he mumbled as he lowered his arms so a distinctly pissed off Kate could set her feet on the ground – hey, she still had both her heels on, that was a plus since they looked expensive.

Both of her hands on her hips, she rounded on him with a look he knew didn’t bode well, her blue eyes flashing and her mouth pressed in a grim line right before she started yelling. “You *moron*! You do realize that they’ll know who you are now, right?”

“Yeah. Shit. SHIT!” He knocked his cap aside and ran his hands through his hair. “I have to do something to get rid of those pictures. *SHIIT*” He kicked at the pavement in the parking lot and yelled at the night sky, his stomach twisting at the thought of what his grandfather would do when he found out that his grandson had been out at a mostly human club in the company of *human* girl. “The old man is going to *flip*,” he muttered, as he reached for Kate. “Come on, I need to get you home before I… I’ll do something.” He needed to get her somewhere safe, fast.

If he thought that Kate was ticked off at him before, it was nothing like the way she looked at him now, as if he… well as if he was scum. “What, you worried how your dear Grandpa is going to react to you dating a non-mutant,” she sneered? “Worried about losing the family inheritance because you touched-“

He grabbed onto both of her arms and gave her a shake. “No, you stubborn idiot, I’m worried about *you*!” When she stared at him in shock, he started to walk her backwards, desperate for the need to move. “Do you know what he’ll do to you when he sees those pictures and realize that you’re the human that was with me? Don’t you remember what happened when my aunt was caught dating that one artist?”

Kate made a couple of inarticulate sounds before she shrugged off his left hand and turned enough to walk beside him. “But… that guy… he broke up with her…”

Tommy gave a loud snort of derision over that bit of fabrication. “Hell no, Grandfather’s people made it look that way so Aunt Lorna got all of the sympathy. It was either the relationship ended or… well, the guy loved her, but he loved living even more. I… I don’t want you going through what that poor bastard did, okay?” He didn’t look at her as he spoke, instead he focused on what was in front of him; he liked Kate, liked her a lot more than the other girls he’d dated or… whatever you called what they’d done together, and he wanted to know her better. He wanted the *chance* to know her better, and that wouldn’t happen if Grandfather found out. That meant he’d have to get rid of those photos somehow.

Things were silent for about a minute and then Kate bumped her shoulders into his. “I’m sorry. Do you… do you need some help in stopping those guys?”

He smiled a little while he shook his head. “Nah, I have an idea, but I need to get you home and then get back myself to do something about it.” He made to grab for her when she shoved her empty hand against his chest and shook her head, a lock of her dark hair sliding free from her bun.

“No, you can go now.” She jerked her chin in the direction of a restaurant down the street that still looked open and smiled. “I’ll go there and call a cab to take me home – I’m good.”

He wanted to argue, but the truth of it was, the longer he stayed here then the more it would take to get rid of the evidence. “All right, be careful.” If it was anyone other than Kate, he’d be worried, but one of the things he liked most about her was that she was good at looking out for herself.

“Funny, I was about to say the same to you.” She leaned in to give him a quick kiss and then laughed. “See you around.”

“You too, Princess.”

Smiling despite the trouble he was in just then, Tommy waved before he burst into motion.

*******

So many worlds. As far as Billy could see, there were worlds upon worlds, ones with every variation of blue skies, of green skies, of skies bereft of stars and those burning with them until the beauty of it left him struggling for air. Skies filled with machines, skies of floating cities, skies of ice and fire and…. He hovered a little closer to a world that seemed composed of multicolored gases, its inhabitants gossamer creatures of crystal filaments. For a moment he wanted to know more about it, to know how it came into being, how it functioned, and *knew* that if he just reached out with his talent that he could-

/Ah, how did *you* manage to get here?/

Well, that was new. Billy frowned and glanced around, the gossamer world forgotten for now. He wrapped his red cloak around himself and floated a little higher as he searched out for the source of that annoying, haughty-sounding voice. “What do you mean? I got here… well, I come here now and then.” It seemed to happen lately, when he pushed with his power.

/Please, someone who reeks of mortality shouldn’t be here, someone who…/ The voice paused and Billy frowned as he felt… he felt *something* push against his being, something that felt familiar and disturbing. Unhappy with the sensation, he called his magic to him, let it slowly build inside of him until all he could feel was the welcome burn that sizzled through his entire being and ached to be unleashed, to be put to use. Sparks crackled around his fingers and his vision took on a blueish cast, yet there was nothing for him to cast the power upon, no clear target since the alien presence had receded so he merely let the magic simmer inside him.

/I see… not so mortal,/ the voice said, no longer so haughty but more thoughtful now. /Interesting – so wonderfully interesting./

“Who are you?” Billy held up his right hand as he searched about, as if it illuminate the darkness beyond the stretch of endless worlds.

/Soon enough, young one. Soon enough./ After spouting that bit of nonsense – really, would a straight answer be too much to ask for, if not an actual name – there was nothing but silence.

Billy waited for another minute before he let his magic slowly retreat. “Great, I need to stop letting Tommy bring back dinner or something, if this is what I dream about as a result. Is it too much to hope for a nice fantasy regarding-“

The multi-world dreamscape melted away around him, and Billy found himself jolted back to reality with the object of his most recent complaint looming over him. “Gah!” He attempted a weak swat at the idiot’s face, which Tommy scoffed at and dodged with an enviable ease.

“Really, Billy? What if I was an assassin or something? You’d be so dead right now.” Tommy gave him one more shake before sitting on the bed beside him.

“I’d hope that they’d be good enough to let me die in my sleep,” Billy muttered as he kicked at his brother from beneath the sheets. “What do you *want*?” It was still dark out, so the idiot should still be outside partying or something, not waking him up.

Judging from the guilty look that settled on his brother’s face, Billy would say that this wake-up call wasn’t about some urgent need to bond at… oh, 3am in the morning or them sharing a midnight snack. “Okay, what do you want,” he repeated as he rubbed his face to help wake him up.

Tommy bounced a little on the bed as he toyed with a lock of his bangs. “Look, I’m really sorry about this,” he said in a rush, barely speaking slow enough so that the words were understandable. “I hate being like the assholes and use you for your talent, but… I’m in trouble.”

Billy needed a moment for that to make sense, he was still a bit sleepy, and then he bent forward so he could punch the idiot in the arm. “You’re always in trouble,” he reminded his brother. “So what is it? What do you need done? It better not be unexploding the damn Eiffel Tower or something like that again….”

Tommy stared at him for a second or two and laughed, his motions blurring as he wrapped his arms half around Billy’s head. “Nah, you dweeb, it’s easy. I just need you to get rid of some photos and such for me.” His face was a little red as he backed off of a protesting Billy. “Uhm, some damn paparazzi caught me and… well, they caught me and a girl leaving a club a bit ago.”

Ah, the mysterious Kate. Billy wondered what it was about the young lady that had his brother so enraptured… and worried about their family finding out about her, but now wasn’t the time. “Okay, so no gossip, got it.” He settled back against the padded headboard of his bed and began to concentrate, the magic rushing forward with particular ease – probably because of the dream. It seemed that he had just began to chant when he felt something ‘click’ into place that let him know that his desire for whatever evidence had been captured earlier that night was now fulfilled. “Done,” he whispered as the magic faded away to a faint hum in his bones, his inner being, eager to be summoned again.

“Eh, you sure?” Tommy appeared a bit dubious just then. “That was fast.”

Billy shrugged and pulled the blankets pooled in his lap up to his chest. “Hmm, it wasn’t that bad of a request, really.”

His brother didn’t seem convinced. “Are you sure? I mean, you were really tired earlier – maybe I should have let you rest and-“

He reached out to pat Tommy’s arm before the idiot raced away to beat up some photographers. “Tommy, it’s done.” He shrugged when Tommy gave him a concerned stare. “I guess I’m getting stronger from casting so much, that and all the sleeping helped. Don’t worry so much.”

Tommy still didn’t look convinced, but he reached over to tug a corner of the blankets up past Billy’s left shoulder before standing from the bed. “If you say so – long as I don’t hear from Grandfather in the morning.” He made to move to his side of the room, but Billy held up a hand to stop him.

“Uh-uh, what about my payment,” Billy asked with a big grin. There was no way he was too sleepy or tired to forget about *that*.

Judging from the incredulous look on his brother’s face, yeah, he’d go with that Tommy had hoped to sneak off to bed while skipping over this part. “What, you want something from your dear big brother after doing him a favor?” Tommy clutched at his chest as if experiences pangs of pain. “Just think of how you saved Grandfather from-“

“Oh no, I saved *you*, so you’ll be getting up in a few hours and heading off to Blé Sucré to fetch a nice selection of pastries so we can join Mother for a nice breakfast.” Billy reached over onto the nightstand so he could grab his phone and send Rahne a text she’d see in the morning to let her know that they’d be stopping by for a visit.

The moan from his brother was truly piteous just then, which only made Billy smile even more. “Don’t forget the chocolate croissants,” he reminded the idiot before setting his phone aside and curling back up in bed.

“Can’t you just magic them? And why do I have to go? You’re her favorite, you know,” Tommy whined.

“Nope, they taste better if you fetch them, and she claims that she doesn’t have any favorites.” Billy fluffed the one pillow a little more before resting his head down.

Tommy scoffed at that as the sound of him falling onto his bed echoed through the room. “Right. There better be *nothing* in the news, CC, or else I’ll make you eat so many of those croissants you’ll puke for days!”

“Yeah, whatever PJ.”

“Bite me.”

“No thanks, don’t want any hetero cooties.”

“More like you couldn’t handle being a bastion of testosterone like me.”

“You’re not even making any sense. Go to bed, and get some madeleines tomorrow while you’re at it.”

“Picky bastard.”

Billy figured he could live with that so he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

******

Billy picked up the two boxes stamped with the Blé Sucré logo and then looked his brother up and down; Tommy had combed his hair back and put on a nice pair of dark grey slacks and a plain white shirt, the sleeves rolled up and the top buttons undone, but everything nicely pressed and still in good shape for once. Billy had tried taming his hair but had less success, and went with a pale blue shirt and black slacks – both of them had refused to dress alike after about five years of age. No doubt their aunt and uncle would be upset at how ‘informal’ they appeared just then, but it was fine for a nice breakfast with their mother. “Ready?”

Tommy’s expressive face twisted a little in displeasure but he stepped closer to Billy. “I guess.”

There was no reason for that – Billy hadn’t made anyone sick with his teleporting in at least a year. Summoning his talent, he wrapped them in the comforting blue until their bedroom faded away and then his mother’s garden formed around them, the rioting scent of flowers as much a welcome as always.

“-why there’s so much tea this morning? And where’s the toast?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Rahne’s soft voice sounded so apologetic, so Billy strode forward into his mother’s sight.

“We brought breakfast,” he called out and smiled, and adored the way that his mother’s lovely face lit up when she realized that both he and Tommy were here; there were moments when he wondered if time had stood still for Wanda ‘Magnus’ somehow, if she really was a mutant, because she didn’t seem old enough to have two teenagers for children.

“My boys,” she cried out as she rose from the small iron-worked table set out in the garden and held her hands for them to grasp, the full skirt of her red gown twisting about her legs. “You’re here?”

“Yeah, we figured we’d surprise you.” Despite his insistence that Wanda wouldn’t care if he showed up, Tommy’s cheeks were a little flushed as he gave her hand a squeeze and leaned in to accept a kiss. “You’re looking da- ah, you look great, Mom.”

Wanda laughed at the compliment and ran her fingers through his hair before turning to kiss Billy. “So kind, you are.” Her smile grew wider when she noticed the boxes in Billy’s hand. “Blé Sucré!” She clapped her own hands together. “Oh, my favorite.”

“We know – Tommy went and got them especially for you.” Billy gave his brother a wink when Wanda grabbed hold of the speedster to hug him in appreciation. “That’s why Rahne’s starving you this morning.”

“Hush now, Master William, as if Ah’d evah mistreat the Lady Wanda,” Rahne insisted, yet she smiled as she brought out two more chairs with an ease that belittled their heavy weight.

“You’ll be glad to know there’s a couple of those snail rolls in there for you.” Tommy grinned at the shifter, which caused the young woman to blush.

“Ah couldn’t,” Rahne attempted to say, but one look from Wanda had her bowing her head in gratitude. “Thank ye.” She set about pouring all of them tea and was quick to help unbox the pastries, and had a slight smile on her face as she went off with her own treats.

Wanda hummed in happiness as she lifted her cup of tea. “Breakfast with my two boys, what a lovely start to the day.” She took a sip before setting it aside and reaching for one of the chocolate croissants. “What have the two of you been up to, hmm? William, you look much better this time.”

Billy blushed a little and hurried to swallow a bite of croissant, the pastry all but melting on his tongue. “Yes, Mother, I feel much better now. Though to be honest, I haven’t been doing much besides sleeping and reading.”

She clicked her tongue a little in that way of hers and reached out to cup his cheek with her right hand. “Watch out for yourself,” was all she said, but the worry in her voice and her brown eyes made him murmur out a promise immediately.

When she turned to Tommy, he immediately charmed her with a series of silly stories about boring functions and outrageous clubs that he somehow managed to sneak into, with no mention of ‘Kate’ or any other girl, Billy noticed. Wanda laughed at the nonsense, a hint of pink blossoming on her pale cheeks, and they soon finished off the large pot of tea and several pastries between them.

“Be careful, you,” she chided Tommy, once again reaching out to touch her son. “You need to stay out of trouble.”

“I am,” Tommy assured her. “I leave it to Billy to push things, you know.”

Wanda shook her head at that. “The two of you….” She didn’t finish that thought, and Billy noticed that her hand trembled a little as she lowered it to her lap - and that Tommy caught it, too.

They shared a look and reluctantly pushed away from the small table. “We should be going,” Billy said with some reluctance as he went over to kiss his mother on the cheek. “It was a wonderful breakfast, and I’m sure we’ll be back soon.”

“Yeah, though I’ll have Billy fetch the food then so he doesn’t get too lazy,” Tommy teased when it was his turn for a kiss.

Wanda looked a little upset at them leaving, but she summoned a smile and nodded. “Just stay out of trouble, you two. That’s all I ask.”

Billy wished that he could stay longer, but their mother didn’t have the strongest of constitutions and the last thing he wanted was to push her too far. “Get some rest,” he urged as he and Tommy stepped further into the garden so he could teleport them back.

Rahne came back out, probably so she could help Wanda back inside, and the two women waved to them before the blue took them away. Billy sighed as they returned to their bedroom, immediately missing the scent of his mother’s garden – maybe he should have brought some flowers with them.

“Well, that went better than I thought.” Tommy was already pulling off the dress shirt as he headed for his closet.

“You headed somewhere?”

“Yeah – since it looked like your spell worked, I’m gonna get out of here before Grandfather comes after me to show around some dignitaries or Uncle Pietro harps on us for ‘disturbing’ Mom.” There was the rustle of clothes on their hangers and then Tommy reappeared in the room dressed in a pair of dark jeans and layered t-shirts, his hair gelled up into spikes. “You wanna come? It’ll do you some good to get out of here, you know.”

It would, but the last time Billy had disappeared for more than an hour or two, he’d ended up in so much trouble that it really hadn’t been worth it in the end. “Nah, I think I’ll check the store to see if I got any new issues and then do some more reading.”

Tommy threw his hands up in the air before reaching over to flick Billy on the forehead. “Try to *live* a little, you big nerd. There’s life outside of comics and books, you know.”

“I could say the same thing about crashing parties and seeing how many brain cells you can kill before you turn twenty, but to each their own.”

“Oooh, someone sounds all pissy today.” Tommy rushed over to rub at Billy’s hair, prompting an annoyed laugh from him as he tried to shove the pest away. “Seriously, stop being the good twin for once, CC, and do something to make me proud.”

Billy wrinkled his nose at the thought and resorted to sparks to chase his annoying brother away. “Yeah, because that always ends well. Get out of here before something blows up.”

“You’renofun,” Tommy whined as he dashed out of the room, a dark blue and white blur that vanished over the balcony as if the three story drop wasn’t any big concern.

Finally alone, Billy took a deep breath to steady himself and then magicked his own clothes into a more ‘common’ outfit, one that would allow him to go hopefully unnoticed as he browsed through The Attic: the loose jeans, red hoodie and sneakers felt almost alien to him after dressing for so long to be ‘presentable’ at his grandfather’s Court, but it had worked so far. As soon as he felt ready, he tugged the hood up to cover his head and then teleported away.

*******

Teddy rubbed his hands against the blue material of his pants before he reached out to accept the incoming call from his mother. Just the sight of her face filling the screen of his computer made him smile, even if he noticed the worry lines of her forehead as she studied his image. “Hi, Mom.”

“Teddy. You look – have you lost weight?”

“You ask me that every time, and the answer is always ‘no’.” He shook his head and tugged at the top of his uniform a little. “You know that’s – well, no.”

She sighed a little and brushed back a lock of her blonde hair. “You know I worry about you, it’s a very intense program and… well, I’m very proud but I worry about you.”

His smile slipped a little and he resisted the urge to reach out to touch the screen. “I know, and I’m sorry for everything I’ve put you through in the last few months.” The look she gave him just then, the flash in her blue eyes and the angry press of her lips let him know that she was about to start ranting again that it was *not* his fault, so he rushed on. “But I’ve just about completed the training and I’ll be an official member of S.H.I.E.L.D. in another day.”

“Teddy… I’m happy for you, and I know you’ll do well. It’s just… I wish you were a little older.” His mother sighed for a moment and then summoned up a smile. “But I’m proud of you, I really am – and I’m going to be praying that they post you somewhere nice and boring and safe.”

He laughed a little at that and fussed some more with his trainee’s uniform. “Yeah, I figured you’d say that.” Some of his good mood faded a little. “I just hope that they don’t station me too far away.” That was the worst part of all of this – the sudden upheaval his life had become since last winter. It had worked out better than he’d expected, better than he’d deserved, but he thought he’d have some more time before he went away to a college of his choice – *if* he went away to college.

His mother looked as if she had picked up on his mood because her smile had gentled and she took to playing with the silver necklace he’d given her a couple of years ago, the two plain linked hearts. “You’ll do fine wherever you end up, kiddo. You’re everything I ever hoped you'd be.”

He blushed a little and ducked his head, suddenly regretting the short cut that they’d made him get as a new recruit; yeah, he was definitely taking advantage of his talent as soon as he was officially an agent. “Mom….”

“There’s my boy.” Laughter broke up a little over his laptop’s spotty connection, but it still made him feel so good, so loved, as if his mother was right beside him. “Now tell me how all about your last few days….”

*******

The sounds of alarms going off startled Kitty so much that she reacted without thinking and phased through the bed and the floor beneath, the sound of muttered curses following her as she dropped into the office below the bedroom. She hovered near the desk in a near panic and remained in an intangible state while those curses and stomping footsteps grew louder, yet she didn’t see anything – everything looked clear.

“Fucking bastard, get back here!”

Okay, maybe not so clear, she thought as she began to calm down, grateful that Pete was there. There was the sound of breaking glass and the awful smell of something burning followed by a cry of pain, but since Pete was in his element, Kitty left him to it while she did a better examination of her office, the panic slowly being replaced with anger as it sunk in that *someone* had tried to steal her research. The papers on her desk appeared disturbed but the computers were still turned off, so everything should still be all right; she would wait until her husband returned before going tangible and booting them up to double-check.

“Bloody thieves with no respect for sleeping people,” Pete muttered as he stomped into the office, his black hair sticking up into every which direction and dressed only in a pair of plaid boxers. “And you!” He willed away the thermal knives still glowing at the end of his fingers as he pointed them at her. “Any idea what that tosser could have done to you if he’d have been in here?”

“Which is why I stayed phased and let you go after him.” She went over to him and stood on her toes to brush their lips together, her thumbs skimming along his hipbones as she rested her hands on his hips – thankful that he appeared fine. “Hmm, thank you, Sweetie. That was so manly of you.”

“Ugh, you’re not getting off so easily.” Still, he hugged her to him in an almost desperate manner and gave her a proper kiss back before stepping away. “Winged ‘em, but somehow he – or it – teleported away. Is anything missing here?”

She shook her head as she went back to the computers and began to boot them up, the anger from before returning now that she knew Pete was fine. “I don’t think so, since the pcs were still down and the alarms had just gone off.” Her fingers flew over the keyboards as she checked the encryption programs to make sure that nothing had been hacked – nothing *better* be hacked. “None of the hardware is gone and I’ll run some checks just in case they tried to install something.”

After a quick search of his own, he joined her at the desk, his left hand settling on the small of her back as he leaned in to watch what she was doing. “Maybe check in with Forge, see if he had any ‘special visitors’ tonight. Err… well, it’ll be today for him, yeah?”

She paused in typing with her left hand to reach back to pat him on the side of the head. “Such a clever man.”

“One of the *many* reasons you love me.” She could hear the smirk in his voice before he gave her a kiss on the left temple.

“Hmm, no distractions just now. Let me finish this and then I’ll call-“ There was a faint sound of a ringtone that could be heard through the thin walls of the cottage, which caused her to break out in a nervous laugh. “Or maybe that’s him calling now.”

“I’ll get it.” Pete gave her bottom a gentle smack and went running upstairs, and a few seconds later the ringing stopped. Concentrating on getting the bug-check programming up and running, she barely paid any attention to what he was saying, just enough to know that it did indeed sound as if he was talking to Forge.

The program was busy scanning for any nasty surprises when Pete came back down and draped a robe over her shoulders. “Yep, Forge said something dark ‘n nasty tried to breach his security while he was busy working on another project,” he confirmed while she tied the robe shut, grateful for something other than the worn t-shirt she’d gone to bed in earlier. “Want some coffee?”

Guessing that they weren’t going return to bed until she verified that everything was fine, she nodded and followed her husband into the tiny kitchen of their cottage. “So what, someone tried to hit us up at nearly the same time? Or two someones?” She frowned while she pulled free the tie that held back her hair and ran her fingers through it while Pete fussed with the ancient coffee machine.

“I’m thinking that it’s at least two – I nailed that bastard, ‘n Forge said the guy he scared off didn’t look wounded. Plus, the attacks seem to be around the same time.” He glared at the machine until it began to sputter about and the scent of brewing coffee filled the room.

“Hmm.” She left her hair alone and went to lean against her husband for comfort, who had pulled on a t-shirt when he went back upstairs. “So, someone’s after the research.”

Pete scoffed as he tucked back the brown curls falling onto her face, a hint of a worried frown on his face. “No big surprise there – question is, who knows about it? We moved to the middle of bumfuck so you could work in peace and obscurity, and Forge isn’t a talkative sort.”

“You think it’s Stark?”

Something dark flashed though Pete’s blue eyes for a moment as he stared down at her. “It better not be – the man needs to learn that he doesn’t own every bit a tech on this planet.”

Well, being involved in the creation of a good bit of it would help feed the belief that he probably should have something to do with the rest of it in one way or another, but Kitty kept that thought to herself before a major rant got started – it could wait until they both had some coffee in them. “So, what are we going to do about tonight, hmm?”

Her husband got that particular evil twinkle in his eyes that made her want to both smack him and kiss him silly, which the smug bastard knew because he bent his head down for a kiss that left her a little dizzy before gently setting her aside so he could go after a mug of his precious coffee. “First, you’re gonna make some of those lovely hotcakes of yours. Once I have about half a pot of this ‘n some of them, then I’m gonna rig us an entirely new security system that’ll be a *right bitch* to get through.”

Kitty did some smirking of her own as she accepted a mug of coffee from Pete. “Ooh, and here Mother said I married you just because you were pretty and talked all fancy.”

“Please, you married me because I’ve got the finest arse that you’ve ever seen,” he told her over the rim of his mug, the corners of his mouth tugged up. “Now get your own in gear, Woman, ‘n make me those hotcakes.”

She laughed at the idiot as she sauntered over to the stove.

*******


	2. Chapter 2

*******

Eric felt the beginnings of a headache as he stared down at the pile of papers that were stacked upon the smooth surface of his mahogany desk and wondered how it was that he could feel so… so *trapped*. A minor use of his talent cracked open the windows looking out over the gardens a bit more, but even the slight breeze laden with the scent of a riot of flowers did little to lighten his mood just then, to loosen the pressure building in his shoulders and the back of his neck. He was expected to read through the documents, to go over the notes that Lorna had put together for him and then face another meeting where he smiled at T’Challa and danced around the matter of-

Someone knocking at the door of his office, the sound fast-paced yet hesitant, shook him from his thoughts. He frowned as he motioned to the heavy doors inset with swirls of metal and they parted with ease to expose the people waiting on the other side. The sight of Pietro wasn’t at all unusual, but Eric was interested to see his Head of Security and the Dean of Technology from Genosha University flanking his son.

“Your Majesty.” Pietro was pure formality as he bowed, dressed in a sleek black suit as if he was prepared for the dinner later tonight rather than a visit to his father. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I believe this is a matter that should be brought to your attention.”

Eric waved him and the others in as he rose from his desk and moved in front of the large, ornate piece of furniture. “What’s going on,” he asked as he stood with his arms folded over his chest. “Is there a problem with the university?” He directed that question at the two who stood behind his son, Sean Cassidy and Tessa.

His Head of Security spoke first, so stiff and formal in his black leather and with a vehement shake of head that sent his ruffled his greying red hair flaring about. “No, your Majesty – at least not yet. There’s been a request for assistance that may impact the royal family, though.” Sean glanced aside at the dark-haired woman who stood beside him.

For once Tessa was without her cyber glasses or any other enhancements that Eric could sense on her – he was certain that Cassidy would have insisted on that before allowing her upon the palace grounds – yet she still had a confident air to her. “Your Majesty, please let me explain the situation.” She continued when he gave her a slight nod of approval. “One of our alumni, a very talented young woman named Katherine Wisdom-Pryde, is currently involved in an amazing research project and has taken a sabbatical. However, it seems that someone is attempting to either sabotage or steal her research, so she would like to return to the university to complete her work.”

Eric thought he remembered the woman’s name and approving some funds for a radical project. “Is this the engine research? Isn’t she working with Forge?”

Tessa smiled in approval. “Yes, Sire. They’re making incredible strides and we all believe they’re going to revolutionize space travel - *if* the project is a success. That’s why we agree that she should be allowed back to the university.”

So far he wasn’t seeing the problem here and glanced at his son for enlightenment; Pietro gauged his confusion immediately and frowned as he ran his right hand through his white hair. “It seems that whomever or *whatever* is attempting to steal Dr. Wisdom-Pryde’s work is… well, her husband has some unusual connections and he had a few of those friends look into the matter. There were some odd energy readings and now SHIELD is involved, since they’re not entirely convinced that the culprit might be of Earthly origins.”

“What the prince is saying is that while Dr. Wisdom-Pryde and her husband feel that the best place to protect her work is a country inhabited by fellow mutants, just in case the person making a go at the tech is Tony Stark or some other jealous idiot, SHIELD’s gonna be around as well to ensure that there isn’t a threat to the planet,” Cassidy summed up. “So that means we need your approval for this, Sire.”

The headache from before had just gotten a hell of a lot stronger; Eric wanted to run his hands through his hair as well and massage the back of his neck, yet didn’t want to display any weakness in front of Cassidy or Tessa. He felt their eyes upon him and knew they were waiting for a decision. From what he remembered, the tech that Dr. Wisdom-Pryde was building could indeed revolutionize space travel and pose a serious threat to Stark’s technological empire; it made sense that if the man had found out about it that he would try to either steal its secrets or sabotage it – maybe enough to try to make it look like aliens were behind the deed in order to save his own reputation.

“Sire, what this discovery means to the university, if not the human race - the *mutant*-“

He held up his right hand to cut off Tessa before she could try to sway his mind and focused his attention on Cassidy. “SHIELD would have no reason to be anywhere near the palace, correct?”

Cassidy’s back became even straighter as he shook his head. “No, Sire. They’ve neither the rights to invade your home nor any reasons – not unless the research takes place here.”

His decision made, Eric turned toward Tessa. “Notify Dr. Wisdom-Pryde that she is welcome back at the university – but explain to her that for her safety that she is to curtail her research to the university grounds. I expect you to work with Mr. Cassidy to ensure that as few people are put to risk while providing as secure an environment for her project as possible.”

“Thank you, Sire.” Tessa gave him a deep bow and, after a curt motion from his right hand, both she and Cassidy left his office. He waited until they were gone and that they should be out of any telepathic range before he looked at his son.

“I want you to ensure that we know where the SHIELD agents are at all times,” he ordered Pietro.

Pietro bowed his head in acknowledgement of the order even as he fussed with the front of his fitted black suit jacket. “Do you think they will be any trouble?”

“I think they’re SHIELD and that they’re used to doing what they like, so we need to make sure they’re kept on a tight leash.” Eric clenched his right hand and had to struggle with his talent to keep all of the metal in the room from reacting to his uneasiness. “They like having the upper hand.” That was something that he’d never allow anyone to have over him again, *never*. Not when he’d fought for so long to have a safe haven for his family, for his people.

Pietro kept fidgeting with his coat as if he fought to remain still. “I know there have been questions about our recent turn of ‘good luck’. Do you think that they might be behind the sabotage in order to finagle a way onto Genosha?”

The thought had crossed Eric’s mind, but somehow he doubted that Tessa would let a detail like that slip by, not if she wanted a favor. “I think it’s more likely that SHIELD is seizing an opportunity presented to them.” He gave Pietro’s right arm a quick squeeze before he returned to his seat behind the desk. “We will make sure that William is kept on the grounds from now on.” Thomas would be impossible to fully restrain unless given an ultimatum, but William was the more obedient of the twins. They *needed* William to be obedient right now, because if SHIELD uncovered what the boy could do….

If Tessa thought that people were willing to go to such lengths for a bit of technology that could revolutionize space travel, could reduce the time and effort it took to bridge the distance between planets… that was nothing when compared to a young man who could change *reality* simply with his own thoughts. A young man who was Eric’s grandson. A young man who was going to be kept safe no matter what the cost. “Find William and bring him to me,” Eric ordered.

“Yes, Father.” Pietro gave him a curt bow and then was a white and black blur out of the room. Eric stared after his son for several seconds before finally giving in to the urge to attempt to rub away his headache.

******

The small park just off of the main street was the perfect spot for reading, its benches numerous and scattered beneath the many trees that lined the bit of green here in the heart of Hammer Bay. Billy reached into his messenger bag for another comic to read and had just flipped open the cover page of the latest issue of Planetary when he heard the familiar creak of leather and couldn’t hold back on an aggrieved sigh. “Can’t you just… I don’t know, go have lunch or something? I’m busy.”

Caliban stalked around the bench so he could face him, the black of his leather uniform a stark contrast to paleness of his skin. “Sir William, return to the palace at once, you should.” His rough voice was pitched low so as not to carry very far, and there was blatant reproach in his eyes as he stared at him.

“It’s nothing important.” Billy’s hands almost clenched around the comic before he remembered it in time, then he forced himself to remain calm. “I’m not doing anything wrong – I’m just getting some fresh air.”

“Do that at home you can, and after you talk to His- your grandfather.” It looked as if it pained the bald man to speak so ‘casually’ about the king, and he flexed his right hand at the moment as if he sought to latch on to Billy at any moment. “Come, come, you must. I have my orders.”

For a moment Billy thought about using his talent to whisk himself far away, to Monaco or Paris or *somewhere*, yet the moment he appeared out of his teleportation spell Caliban’s talent would latch on to his location unless he used his magic to mask it. A weariness settled upon him just then – he had so much power, so much ability… and unless he wanted to use it every waking moment of his life, he would be under his grandfather’s thumb. Sometimes he thought that he should just unleash his talent and be free of it all, free of the constraints, free of the demands upon him as a member of the House of Magnus… but what of his mother? What of Tommy? What… what of his humanity? There was a voice inside of him that whispered to him at times that if he gave into the power thrumming through his very veins, through his entire being that there would be no turning back….

So that was why he placed the unread comics with care inside his red messenger bag and stood to his feet while Caliban watched on with those unblinking eyes of his, and then cocked an eyebrow with some sarcastic exaggeration when the fellow mutant did nothing but stand there for a few seconds. Mindful of the few people gathered in the park around them on such a peaceful day, Billy sighed as he unleashed his power around himself and Caliban in a wave of blue energy and transported them back to the heart of his grandfather’s Court.

******

Teddy cursed as he shifted thicker skin, thicker *armor* around his chest and back to withstand the onslaught that the Instructor was unleashing upon them today. Considering that this was the last time through the Gauntlet, she seemed in a particularly foul mood and determined to wipe out a many of them as possible – Kiden was already down before she could shift into an altered time stream, while Molly was holding her own… for now. Doreen was knocked out as well, but Teddy wasn’t sure that he counted that as much of a loss… really, how much of a talent was *that*. Dominic was putting up a fight, but his flames were dying out against the onslaught of the course so it was only a matter of time. Teddy shared a look with Molly and the two of them used their enhanced strength and resilience to muscle through the rest of the course, Teddy shifting his body to take the brunt of the energy pulses and explosions while Molly used brute force to shatter her way through the rest of the obstacles, and to their surprise they actually made their way to the finish line before Molly expended the last of her energy.

“Well, looks like two of you are worth *something*.” Callisto’s husky voice seemed to carry some sort of pride beneath the usual derision, even if her model-worthy features remained the usual mask of derision that Teddy had become used to these last several weeks. “Nice to know I haven’t wasted my time this last round of training.”

He slid his left arm around Molly’s waist to help keep her on her feet – now that they were through the Gauntlet, she was fading fast. “Yes, ma’am,” he mumbled, doing his best to catch his breath as he shifted back to his more ‘normal’ appearance. Thankfully, SHIELD apparel had the ability to match his form so he didn’t go around in rags or baring his ass for the world to see.

Molly muttered something that was probably along the lines of what he had just said, her blonde hair falling onto her face as she tried to lift her head despite the evident exhaustion weighing her down.

Callisto made an annoyed clicking sound before she waved them aside. “Go wash off and get some rest – you two at least have passed.” Something dark flashed in her eyes as she looked back at the obstacle course and those who’d failed to come out of it as of yet. “Return to your quarters and get some rest while you wait for your official assignments.”

Teddy felt a trill of excitement as he heard that from his demanding training instructor – the last several months had been a special hell as Callisto had put him and the others through their paces, had torn them down and built them back up in SHIELD’s image of what an operator should be, and despite what he’d told his mother he’d been a bit afraid that he’d never make it through the program. So much had depended on him getting through – all because of his foolish slip, of letting his anger get the better of him… well now he’d done it, had graduated and had some sort of future ahead of him. Maybe it wasn’t what he’d planned a few months ago, but it *was* a future.

“Come on,” he urged Molly as he turned toward the exit.

“Oohhh… wanna sleep forever,” she slurred as she lolled her head onto his shoulder. “Sooo warm.”

It felt nice to have another person draped on him like this, to have someone trust him so implicitly. Teddy held his friend against his side and reveled in the sense of warmth from another person, even if it was just a platonic relationship, as he carried Molly back to her room. All that mattered just then was that Molly trusted him to see her to safety, that she *trusted* him… and that he could trust her in return. They had relied on each other back in the Gauntlet, had fought beside each other during the whole training regiment and knew that they could depend on each other. Wasn’t it sad that he could rely upon a relative stranger when he had been let down so spectacularly by someone he had grown up with, by someone he had trusted so implicitly?

He shoved aside all thoughts of Greg as he saw Molly safely to her quarters, and then shuffled along to his own room. All he wanted just then was to shed his uniform, take a long shower and then fall onto his bed so he could sleep for as long as possible – tomorrow he could Skype his mom and let her know that everything had gone well, that he should become an official SHIELD agent and receive a posting in the near future. Maybe this wasn’t how he’d expected his life to turn out, but it wasn’t bad. He’d made friends and he didn’t have to hide what he was anymore. If he could use his talent for something good instead of – no, he wasn’t going to think of that right now.

Letting his soiled and ruined uniform drop to the ground, Teddy forced all thoughts from his mind as he stepped into the shower so the water could wash away the stress of the final exam from his body.

*******

Billy detested the feeling that he was a disobedient puppy waiting for its owner to come home and rub its nose in the mess it had made – he’d expected to be left alone in his room after returning to the palace, only to have a frantic Caliban haul him away to the section which housed the formal sitting rooms where his grandfather and uncle entertained visiting dignitaries and the such. He guessed that the guard hadn’t been kidding about the ‘talk to your grandfather’ thing – he was just annoyed that he’d been made to come back home on such a nice day and now was being forced to sit around and wait; really, couldn’t they have left him alone until he returned on his own?

Refusing to be cowed by the overbearing presence of gilded antiques and what had to be one of the most uncomfortable couches in the whole damn place, he folded his legs beneath him and hovered in the air as he began to read through his stack of newly acquired comics – one hour and he was out of here. Surely Grandfather couldn’t complain too much about Billy refusing to waste his day waiting around as if he had nothing better to do…. He had several episodes of The Musketeers to catch up on, after all.

Unfortunately, he was about halfway through his fresh haul when the door opened and Uncle Pietro sauntered into the room, actually bothering with a nearly human pace for once. “Really, William? Couldn’t you clean yourself up first?” Disdain was evident in his tone and the look he gave Billy’s clothes.

Billy sighed as he put away the comics and allowed his feet to touch the floor. “Hello, Uncle, it’s lovely as always to see you, too. I’m doing well, thanks for asking.” What was it like to have a more… normal family? One that had *some* idea of how to do things like affection and personal space?

Uncle Pietro closed the distance between them in a blink of an eye, the speed of his passing causing Billy’s overlong bangs to flutter in front of his eyes, and fussed with the material of his red hoodie. “Father will be upset if he sees you dressed like this so do *something*.” His frown grew more pronounced, which sharpened the already pointed features of his face as he rocked back onto his heels with his arm folded over his chest. “Well?”

Wanting to mutter about how patience was a virtue, Billy decided to just get whatever this latest ordeal was about over with and did as he’d been told. He summoned his talent to him and willed his outfit to change into a more subdued version of his uncle’s suit, the color dark grey with red accents. “Are you happy now?” A hint of petulance shaded his voice despite his best intentions.

Pietro’s frown shifted into a look of contemplation as he reached out and attempted to tuck back Billy’s bangs. “Ach, your hair is just as unruly as your mother’s.” For a moment his expression softened as he shook his head. “So much alike….” Then his habitual sense of annoyance returned and he motioned for Billy to follow. “Come now, we’ve kept him waiting long enough.”

Right, *Billy* had kept the old man waiting by sitting in the room he’d been ordered into… but he’d learned long ago it wasn’t worth it to argue with his uncle – leave it to Tommy who liked insurmountable challenges. Instead, Billy wondered what it was that he’d be ‘asked’ to magic up this time, if it would be something physical or more intangible in nature. He’d recovered pretty quickly this last time, but the dreams afterwards had been so odd….

His uncle led him to Grandfather’s office, a huge room festooned with black and red banners that proclaimed the kingdom’s heraldry, past two guards who were silent and stone-faced at the door. Grandfather stood behind the large mahogany desk inlaid with delicate metal whirls, large gnarled hands clasped behind his back as he stared out through the floor to ceiling windows that lined the one wall. Eric ‘Magnus’ was still a very striking and fit man for his age, his light grey hair like a mane that rose up from his forehead and flowed back to his straight shoulders, his barrel chest finely robed in a heavy silk red tunic. There were times when Billy looked at his grandfather and wondered how they were related, what he had in common with this so-impressive man and then he sensed the power inside of his grandfather, felt that spark which called out to the blue fire burning so brightly inside of himself.

His grandfather turned after a moment and nodded once at them. “Pietro, William.”

Billy murmured out ‘Grandfather’ the same time that his uncle greeted the man as well, for once all arrogance and annoyance gone from his demeanor. Grandfather gave Pietro a quick look before he focused his attention on Billy.

“So, I understand that you were outside the palace yet again.” There was a hint of reproach in Grandfather’s deep voice as he stared evenly at Billy.

Why was it that Tommy never seemed to be called in here and given any lectures? Billy forced his hands away from the strap of the messenger back so they could to latch onto each other and not twist about as he made himself to meet his grandfather’s pale eyes. “Ye-yes, sir. I just we-went out for a little bit to fetch a feh-few things.” Why was he always reduced to a nervous wreck in front of the man? Tommy wouldn’t be standing here too afraid to look up and stuttering like a fool. Lucky Tommy was probably passed out in some club right now….

He flinched when Grandfather sighed in that awful manner which usually preceded a boring lecture about how ‘Lehnsherrs had to do their duty to the family’ and ‘with royal blood came royal responsibilities’ and a bunch of other gibberish that made Billy want to just teleport as far away as possible. There was a flash of anxiety at him being such a disappointment… and then a rare burst of anger, anger at how he *was* trying his best, at how he bled his talent dry for his family and if that wasn’t good enough for Grandfather then… then…. The magic bubbled through his veins, simmered in his bones and it would be so easy to just reach out and make everyone leave him alone. A quiet, smug voice in his head, one that sounded similar to the stranger in his dreams and whispered that all it would take was-

“William.”

Grandfather had approached Billy while he’d lost himself to his talent, to its allure, and he jerked a little beneath the heavy yet warm hand that rested on his left shoulder. “William,” Grandfather repeated with a slight frown on his face as he stared down at Billy, “I remember what it’s like to be young, I do.” His look of concern shifted into a slight smile, one that erased some of the years from his visage and startled Billy with its rarity. And just as quickly as it had arrived the smile was gone, to be replaced with the concern from before. “Yet despite all of my efforts since then, there are still some dangers to those I love – to those I would protect the most. *This* is why I ask you to remain here, where I can ensure that you are safe.”

“But who would want to harm any of us in our own country,” Billy demanded to know; sparks began to dance around his hands as he struggled to control his emotions. All he wanted was a little freedom, was that too much to ask?

“We are an open country – I can’t entirely control those who are outside of the palace grounds.” The weight of Grandfather’s hand upon Billy’s shoulder increased and whatever warmth he’d allowed between them was now gone – it was clear that this was Genosha’s king talking to Billy, and not his grandfather. “You will confine yourself to the palace unless otherwise notified.”

Just like that, whatever little bit of freedom that Billy possessed vanished – it didn’t matter in another year or so he would be considered an adult in most countries, or that he had more than enough power to protect himself. No, his grandfather the king had spoken and he must obey. “Yes, Sire,” he mumbled in response as he struggled to push back the magic surging inside of him.

Uncle Pietro stepped forward and joined the ‘conversation’ for the first time since they had entered the room. “I will be talking to Thomas very shortly. He will also need to curtail his escapades and be more active in his duties.”

Oh, great, so not only was Billy being figuratively chained up at home, but now he was literally being punished as well by having a pissed-off Tommy inflicted upon him. Could the day get any worse? “I’m sure that’ll be one highly enjoyable conversation,” he told his uncle in as deadpan a manner as possible.

“Look, Will-“

“He *is* right, Pietro.” Grandfather’s rather dry voice cut off Uncle Pietro’s disgruntled retort as he glanced back and forth between him and Billy. “I imagine half of the palace will be listening in on the forthcoming argument.” His demeanor slightly thawed from the ‘he who must be obeyed’ iciness of before, he nodded to Billy. “Dinner will be served in about another hour. While we still have some guests, the family will be there and it would be nice to have you join us.”

It seemed as if Billy was being given a choice for once, and normally he would jump at a chance to please his grandfather… but not today. Not when ‘the family’ didn’t include Tommy, who was still off having fun, nor his mother, who only ventured away from her rooms and garden for truly important events. Not when he desperately needed to find a quiet corner of the palace grounds and blast away at something until he could think clearly. “No, thank you. I’m not very hungry at the moment.”

There was an understanding gleam to his grandfather’s grey eyes which insinuated that he was guessing at Billy’s thoughts just then before he nodded once. “Very well, we’ll look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

Billy didn’t wait any longer, he stuttered out something that was along the lines of ‘yeah, okay’ even as he gathered his talent around him and teleported as far away from his grandfather and uncle as he could and still remain upon the palace grounds.

*******

Pietro watched his nephew vanish in a wash of blue lights and sighed, as always amazed by the boy’s talent; it was as if William was a changeling, with the way his talent refused to follow along the lines of magnetism or hyper-speed, with the way he could bend reality and space to his whim so easily. If he didn’t look so much like Wanda….

“Well, I think that could have gone better.”

He glanced away from the fading blue sparks to find his father staring at the space where William had stood moments before, a rare chagrined expression on his face. For a man who ruled so easily over a country full of powerful, diverse people… well, Eric Lehnsherr had his challenges with his own family. “You *think*?” Pietro winced at how sharp that had come out.

He was given a rather cuttingly arched eyebrow in response as his father folded his arms over his chest. “I suppose you could have done better? Should I take notes during your conversation with Thomas?”

That… was a rather low blow, Pietro thought as he jerked his right hand through his hair; William for all his… his ‘otherworldliness’, his introversion, his seeming inability to carry on normal conversation at times… at least he had an eagerness to please. Thomas, on the other hand, seemed to thrive on being contrary, to thumbing his nose at the world. If the damn brat didn’t remind him so much of a certain someone….

“Sorry, Father,” he grumbled as he shrugged his shoulders. “Do you think he’ll obey you?”

His father seemed to give the question some thought for a few seconds before he mirrored Pietro’s shrug. “I think he’ll listen to me better than Thomas will to you, but it’s best that the guards have orders to keep their eyes on him. He *is* young, after all, and we didn’t give him much of an explanation.”

And there was little doubt in Pietro’s mind that Thomas would egg his younger twin on to disobey the order for the simple sake of being disobedient. Pietro would have to visit Wanda and see if there was some way he could sway her to his side without worrying her too much and have her intercede – William would *never* go against his mother’s wishes and even Thomas thought twice about upsetting her. For a ‘mere’ human, she held an astonishing amount of power over their family.

“I don’t see why you simply didn’t tell him that SHIELD may not have his best interest at heart since William is more than powerful enough to protect himself.”

Pietro actually reacted without thinking and ended up halfway across the room within a heartbeat after the cold look his father cast his way upon hearing that question. “Because William has never used his talent to harm another living creature, he has – for the most part – used it to solve things or make them better. I don’t believe it would be a good thing if he were to go down that path.”

Pietro wanted to argue, to say that a person could protect himself without resorting to violence, but there was a disturbing look on his father’s face just then, so much sorrow in his pale eyes that it reminded him about the darker side of humanity that the man had seen and lived through, had experienced himself before setting aside so many years ago.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized in a hushed voice with his head bowed.

There were footsteps and then gloved hands settled on his shoulders in a gentle manner for a few seconds before falling away. “I know. Now come, we still need to meet with King T’Challa before dinner.”

“Yes, Father.” Pietro lifted his head and took his place at his father’s side as they left the room together.

******

Tommy slowed to an excruciatingly feeble pace as he snatched at Kate, still catching her by surprise just as she set her phone down on the glass table beside her lounge chair. She let out a startled laugh and as he wrapped his arms around her to swoop her up, latched on to him in such a way that he wasn’t able to just dump her into the pool full of heated, crystal-clear water but had to jump in as well. They both were laughing as their heads broke out of the water, Kate despite the fact that her expensive blow out was now ruined and Tommy… well, it had been *ages* since he’d had this much fun with someone other than his brother. And, well, Billy hadn’t been up to tricks for a while now, thanks to Grandfather.

“You little shit, what did I tell you about acting like a five year old,” Kate chided as she pushed aside the thick strands of black hair that were plastered across her face.

“Aw come on, that’s at least a level of a ten year old,” Tommy whined as he kicked his feet and swum around her. He liked it when Kate smiled like that, when she didn’t act all aloof and dignified.

She made an inelegant sound and splashed water in his direction, a slight, knowing smile on her face as if aware that he was moving slow enough *to* be splashed just for her. “Yes, because that’s so much better.” She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Please tell me that it’s going to be *years* before there’s even the slightest hint of you taking the throne, or else Genosha’s in a lot of trouble.”

“Ha ha.” He moved his right hand through the water fast enough that a sudden trough appeared, causing Kate to rock forward with a faint yelp until she fell into his arms. “I figured I’ll just marry someone brilliant enough to rule the country while I lounge about and drink all day.”

“Now *there’s* a proposal that’ll make any girl swoon.”

“Who said anything about wanting a girl who swoons? I like ‘em nice and feisty.” Tommy grinned as he ducked his head, mindful of always about where Kate’s hands – or more accurately, fists – were, and moved slowly enough that she could shift away if she wanted. Her blue eyes narrowed yet she remained still, and just before their lips brushed together, her eyes went wide and she gasped as she pushed against him and floated away.

“Uhm, I think some…thing wants your attention.” She pointed in the direction behind his back while she continued to stare, her expression torn between what appeared to be amusement and surprise.

Pissed off that someone or something had interrupted just when he was getting somewhere, Tommy rushed out of the water in an instant, only to come to a stop at the edge of the pool when it registered on him ‘what’ the unexpected guest was – he barely had the thought to take the extra two steps to reach the cement platform surrounding the pool before he began to sink into water. “Billy? What the fuck are you doing?”

The glowing, two foot tall blue stuffed cat dressed in an elaborate black and red uniform coat bowed before it held out an equally glowing envelope to Tommy. Used to his brother’s odd magic tricks by now, Tommy grit his teeth together as he accepted the damn thing. “Do you have any idea how lousy your timing is? This better be worth it, dammit,” he complained as he snatched up the letter.

The odd magical construct had the grace to look ashamed just then, its ears flat against its head and its tail curled around its left leg as it stood there and waited for Tommy to read the message. “Aw, how can you be so mean to something so adorable?”

He almost jumped at the reminder that Kate was still here, now wrapped in an overlarge, fluffy white towel that hid her sexy purple bikini and her hair slicked back from her face. “It’s not adorable, it’s creepy is what it is,” he muttered as he opened the letter; somehow the thing even *felt* like paper. Billy’s powers were getting stronger every year….

“What is it? You said something about your brother?”

“Hmm?” Tommy looked up from the unread letter to see Kate motioning toward the waiting cat and silently cursed. “Uhm, yeah, it’s… a projection that a friend sends whenever Billy needs to get a hold of me.” He waved his left hand about while he turned his attention back to the letter and hoped that Kate bought the excuse, annoyed at himself for the slip.

“Seems an odd choice for a messenger.”

“They’re an odd person.” Who would have expected a young Billy to latch on to a favorite toy and ‘send’ it to Tommy in an effort to cheer up his grounded brother, and to keep doing so for almost ten years? Yeah, Billy was odd all right. Tommy pushed the memory of that day aside and focused on the letter, on why Billy had tracked him down this time, and cursed again. “Fuck, it looks like Grandfather has some new stick up his ass and is about to unleash the hounds on me,” he said in a rush as he leaned over to give Kate a quick peck on the cheek. “I need to get going before they track me down here,” he explained as he dropped the letter, which vanished into thin air as soon as it left his hand.

The blue cat bowed upon hearing him say that he was going to leave and spun around in a circle, quickly disappearing into pale blue smoke much as the letter had moments before. Kate stared with bemusement at the now vanished magical creature before shaking her head in Tommy’s direction. “So much for enjoying a nice weekend at my dad’s fancy new country estate.”

Bursting into motion, Tommy gathered up his scattered items before screeching to a halt in front of her. “We’ll do it another time – you’re staying in England for a couple more weeks, right?” When she nodded, he risked another quick kiss before dashing off. “Seeyousoon!”

The sound of Kate’s laugher trailed off as he headed back to London, where he figured he’d hang out in one of the family’s townhouses long enough for the ‘hounds’ to pick up his trail before leading them on a merry chase all over Europe; Billy’s letter hadn’t said too much, just that Grandfather was getting all pissy about security for some reason and had already placed him under lockdown while Uncle Pietro had mentioned doing the same to Tommy. While there were times that Tommy couldn’t understand his younger brother – a brother who could send a magical construct to another continent to warn him about what assholes their family were – he appreciated the little shit all the same. He just wished that Billy would get more of a spine one day and use all of that amazing power to have some fun and tell Grandfather and Uncle Pietro to fuck off a bit. Really, almost seventeen years old and his idea of a good time was to sneak off to a comic book store….

Maybe Kate had a cute gay friend she could hook Billy up with or something. Someone not too geeky, someone who would drag Billy out of his shell but knew he’d get his ass kicked if he stepped out of line. Slowing down as he reached the house on Sloane Street, Tommy reached for his phone the same time he held up his right palm to bypass the security to get inside; he figured he’d have about twenty minutes before Grandfather’s guards tracked him down here, which was *more* than enough time to chat with Kate, grab a meal, wash off, change out of his swim shorts and pack whatever he needed before dashing off to the next stop. He hoped the poor bastards were ready for the gauntlet he was about to put them through….

*******

As the helicarrier hovered over the New York City harbor it laid bare a spectacular view of the city, with the Statue of Liberty glowing softly in the dimming twilight and the lights of lower Manhattan sparkling ahead. This was one of Sebastian Shaw’s favorite spots in the city, one of the perks he relished with pride as the Director of SHIELD – to gaze down upon the greatest cities of the world from his sky-high perch.

He allowed himself a few more seconds to enjoy the sight before he turned his back on the wide expanse of windows and smiled at his guest, even if she couldn’t physically see the expression. “I received notice earlier that Genosha’s royal guard won’t object to our presence on the island, but they’re insisting that they alone are responsible for protecting the royal family and property.” His smile strengthened as he remembered how that particular missive had been worded – Sean Cassidy hadn’t been terribly diplomatic in his response.

Cassandra Webb sat in her hover chair with her hands folded on her lap and lifted her left shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “We knew that they would give in to a certain point. Just be positive to send the boy along with the others.”

Sebastian frowned at the ‘suggestion’ and strode over to his cluttered desk, where he picked up his tablet. After turning it on and flicking through several folders, he came across the latest status update from Callisto, which included the new recruits. “Are you sure about this? I don’t like the idea of sending a raw recruit on a sensitive mission like this, especially since-“

“Especially since there’s so much that I’m unsure about?” A rare hint of exasperation shaded Cassandra’s smooth voice and creased her unnaturally unlined face – if she wasn’t wearing those dark glasses, he was certain that she would be glaring in his direction just then. “No, I *can’t* see much about this supposedly talented mutant who has been able to greatly enhance Genosha’s fortunes lately, and that disturbs me more than you can possibly imagine. I am also disturbed by the fact that you’ve somehow discovered this information when *I* haven’t.” She paused for a moment as if daring him to explain how he came about said information. When all Sebastian did was stand there with the tablet held in his hands, she bowed her head and continued. “But the one thing I *am* certain about is that for some reason, you need to send young Theodore Altman to Genosha.”

So she had said before, but she never gave him a very good reason *why*, and she didn’t say any more now, either. When the silence continued to draw out, Sebastian sighed and shook his head.

“Fine, the boy will be included in the mission – it might put Cassidy and King Magnus at ease if they see him and one or two other younger agents in the group.” Perhaps the reason for Cassandra’s assistance was that the target was so young and supposedly isolated, and there was Altman’s talent as well. It would be useful to have a shape-shifter included on an assignment such as this.

“Altman must be there,” Cassandra insisted as she turned her chair around to leave the room. “He’s the key.” Yet again she failed to say the key to what exactly, causing Sebastian to frown as the precog left his office. If he thought it would do any good, he’d insist upon her explaining things before allowing her to leave but knew better by this point.

Keeping hold of the tablet, he went to stand before the large expanse of reinforced glass once again to stare out upon the city, the lights a brighter beacon than before now that dusk had given way to proper twilight. What exactly was the House of Magnus hiding? What power did Eric Magnus’ youngest grandson possess? It certainly wasn’t merely the ability to fly and control energy that was the official answer from the family’s communication department, or the rumored whispers of teleportation.

He grinned and flexed his left hand as he thought of possessing that power, *whatever* it was, of having it for himself.

A soft chirp startled him from his thoughts, and he looked down at the tablet to see a new message from L. Hewa. Scoffing a little at the man’s timing, he tapped out an answer to let him know that things were proceeding according the plan; it was more than a little curious how the intensely private Mr. Hewa managed to block his presence from Cassandra’s ability, much like Magnus’ grandson, but as long as he continued to provide Sebastian with useful bits of information then Sebastian wouldn’t pry too much. For now.

He would just have to have a contingency plan in place once they did secure Magnus’ grandson – there had to be a reason that Hewa was having SHIELD obtain the boy rather than go after the mutant himself. Sebastian refused to allow himself to be used as a pawn, and he had more than enough power at his command to ensure that he got his way.

*******

Tugging on the hem of his uniform’s jacket yet again, Teddy struggled to control his nerves and regretted having those few bites of toast at breakfast; why had he been ordered to Agent Drew’s office – and alone at that? Shouldn’t Molly be here when they learned their official assignments? He wasn’t sure if they’d be posted together, but was it really that big of a secret, where they would end up? It wasn’t like they were at any sort of security level where they’d be undercover or anything; most likely they’d be working on a helicarrier or a supply base or something like that.

He had just wiped his sweaty palms along his pants when the door swished open to admit Agent Drew, an imposing woman despite her slender build. She barely paid Teddy any attention as she headed directly behind the desk, her green eyes focused on the tablet she held in her right hand while her left raised to tuck back a lock of black hair that had escaped the messy bun she’d pulled the rest of it into with what looked to be a stylus pen. She settled into the leather chair with casual grace and continued to read for several seconds while Teddy stuttered out a greeting, and while Teddy pondered if he should dare to ask a question in order to break the uncomfortable silence, she finally set the tablet aside.

“Theodore Rufus Altman, commonly referred to as Teddy by your friends, seventeen years old and a talented shape-shifter.” Agent Drew leaned back in her chair and studied him with those cool, assessing eyes of hers. “Talented enough that there are people betting that you’ll give Agent Darkholme a run for her money in a few more years, once you get some more experience under your belt.”

Teddy felt a rush of heat to his cheeks and ducked his head to hide it, and missed the long bangs that used to cover his face; one of the first things he’d do once he was an ‘official’ agent was to grow them back out. “Thank you, ma’am. I can only hope to be as skilled as she is.”

“Hmm, polite, too.” Agent Drew reached out to tap a gloved finger against the tablet two times. “Between your ability and your mother signing off on your age, SHIELD took you on and you’ve completed the training with recommendations. You’ve a chance to go far with SHIELD, Altman, as long as you remember to keep your temper under control.”

The flush from before returned, this time for a different reason, as Teddy reacted to what Agent Drew was alluding to but didn’t come outright and say – he appreciated that she didn’t go into detail about what had drove him into joining SHIELD, and nodded as he mumbled “yes, ma’am.”

She continued eyeing him for a couple of seconds before she nodded as well. “You’re young, Agent Altman, and things such as control and better judgment are often… fine-tuned with experience. You’ve learned some valuable things for your age already, just be sure that you continue to make such excellent progress.” She tapped again on the tablet and then slid it across the mostly empty desk toward him. “Here are the details for your first official assignment as an Agent, provisional class, of SHIELD. Pass the six month probationary period and you’ll have secured your first clearance level.”

He picked up the tablet with a trembling right hand and felt as if his heart was in his throat as he swiped his left forefinger along the screen so he could scroll through the details of what he would be doing with his life for the next several months. It took a minute for the words to make sense – he had expected to be posted in some boring location, maybe the helicarrier supply base in New Jersey or down in Baton Rouge since everyone complained about those locations. Maybe even the Anchorage base if his scores were bad enough….

“Uhm, ma’am? Is this… this says ‘Genosha’.” That couldn’t possibly be right – someone must have messed up the document somehow.

Agent Drew continued to stare at Teddy in that cool manner. “It’s nice to know that they didn’t overestimate your reading comprehension skills, Altman. Yes, it does indeed say ‘Genosha’ on your file. Congratulations. I’m sure it’s completely redundant of me to stress how important such a post is, correct?”

“Yuh-yes, ma’am.” He wanted to ask *why* he was being assigned to such a far away place – did SHIELD even have a base there? – but something about the way that the older woman was looking at him, the calculated reserve in those eyes of hers, warned him that this wasn’t the time for questions. Instead, Teddy clutched the tablet against his chest and nodded once. “Thank you, ma’am, for this opportunity.”

“Such things don’t come often, Altman, so do your best to prove to us all that we’ve every reason to believe in you.” She dismissed him with a slight wave of her left hand. “Now I believe that you have a lot of preparation to do.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you, ma’am,” he repeated, aware that he was almost babbling at this point as he stumbled to his feet. Agent Drew didn’t seem to be paying him much attention at that point, so he hurried out of her office with a sense of relief and wondered how he would break the news to his mother that he was going to be stationed halfway around the world for at least half a year….

*******

There was something odd with the world that hovered in front of Billy, something about the small figures that rushed about inside of it. Even as tiny as they were he could tell that they were brightly dressed, and some of them seemed to be oddly colored, to appear… was that green? He floated closer to the world as his eyes narrowed, drawn to two figures in particular, the one in black and red and the larger one of green and purple with what appeared to be wings-

/Ah, what did I tell you about meddling?/

Billy sighed in frustration and allowed the world to float on past him as he glared up at… well, *nothing*. “And what did I tell you about how annoying it is to be lectured by a disembodied voice, huh?” He folded his arms over his chest and was *not* pouting, dammit. This was his angry look, he told himself as he struggled to press his lips together in a firmer line.

/Why should I listen to you when you don’t listen to me?/

“Because… you, argh!” He threw his hands up in the air and allowed himself to whirl around a little, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth despite himself. “Circular thinking, much? Way to fight dirty, DV.”

As never-ending as the horizon filled with the small, floating worlds seemed to be, the disembodied voice – now a rich, goose-bump inducing laughter – did an amazing job of filling up the cavernous space just then. Billy’s smile strengthened as it seemed to pour over him, an almost tangible thing, and shivered when it stopped. /Is there any other way to fight, Imp?/

He rolled his eyes at the nickname, which was at least better than being called ‘young one’ all the time. “Let me guess, ‘all is fair in love and war’.” He floated a little higher from the worlds and folded his legs up beneath him, as if sitting on the air.

/Sometimes mortals can be wise,/ the rich voice answered back. /Yes indeed, all is fair. Would you allow such an important prize to be snatched from you, hmm?/

As often was the case during these… these ‘dreams’, Billy wasn’t entirely sure what the topic of conversation was most of the time, he just enjoyed having someone to talk to, someone who seemed to enjoy teasing him and playing along with whatever bit of silliness his mind wandered into that particular night. What it said about his subconscious… yeah, pathetic. “I think it matters what the prize is,” he admitted as he held his hands in front of him and allowed his magic to spring forth. The sparks burned so brightly and easily in his dreams, as if there were no limits or restraints upon them as in the real world.

/It matters if it’s truly important to you,/ DV – ‘disembodied voice’ as he’d begun to think of the ‘other’ – said, sounding thoughtful for once. /Oh yes, such potential you have. You just but have to realize it./

The sparks continued to build, the blue glow to encircle his body, but for some reason Billy wasn’t afraid of it since it was his own power, was a part of himself. He looked upward as if he could see DV and frowned. “Realize what?”

/Realize what you can truly be without all of the others holding you back. Without… *him*./

That… didn’t make any sense. Billy frowned as he shook his head, the sight of the myriad worlds drowned out by the intense glow of his own talent. “But… no one is holding me back.” Tommy, Grandfather… they all encouraged him to use his powers.

The laughter from before returned, but somehow… somehow it lacked its previous warmth. /No one will, now. Oh, what an *amazing* de-/

There was a noise, an awful keening sound, that rushed in and drowned out what DV was saying, that caused the blue glow, the *power* to overwhelm everything. Billy felt on fire, felt the magic burn through his entire being, felt it *become* his entire being, felt it reach out and touch those many, many worlds until it was as if he was sifting through all of them, catching too-swift glances of each and all it would take was just a thought to pick one and-

“WILLIAM!”

Billy blinked open his eyes to find himself upright and floating above his bed, floating in a room completely awash with blue while his uncle was a few feet away, green eyes wide in what appeared to be panic even as he stood with back ramrod stiff and right arm flung out in either to beseech or hold Billy at length. Huddled behind Uncle Pietro was Hope, the young woman who served as a personal assistant to Aunt Lorna. Her eyes appeared even wilder than his and a pallor was cast over her skin, and she refused to look in Billy’s direction as if her sanity depended upon her staring down upon the bit of carpet in front of her.

Confused over what had happened, Billy struggled to rein in his talent and floated down until his feet touched the bed. “Un-uncle Pietro?” The unnatural glow slowly began to die away, and to his amazement, he realized that things in the room had changed at some point during the night, that flowers similar to what grew in his mother’s garden now sprouted up from the floor and… oh… what had happened to the outer wall? “Uhm….” Grandfather was going to be *pissed*.

Uncle Pietro didn’t speak at first, instead he turned around to help Hope up onto her feet and then urged the girl toward the door. “Go on, go see the Lady Lorna,” he told her. Hope barely nodded before she scurried away as if a frightened creature, never once looking in Billy’s direction.

“Uncle?”

Billy’s uncle let out a slow breath as he ran his hands through his disheveled silver hair. “Your aunt wanted to know if you’d like to join us for breakfast,” Uncle Pietro said after a few seconds, his voice… his voice tight with *something*. “Perhaps… perhaps you can join us after you,” he paused to wave a hand about the altered room, “fix… this.” He didn’t wait for an answer before he left the room in a blur.

Falling onto the bed that was still warm from his body heat, Billy tugged the rumpled sheets around him and let out a shaky breath as he tried to figure out what the hell had just happened. He’d been dreaming, yes? So how did he go from dreaming to this? What the hell was going on in his head?

Wishing desperately that Tommy was here and regretting that he’d warned his brother away, Billy summoned his talent again and attempted to repair the damage he’d done… well, to the room, at least. Something told him it might not be so easy to fix the looks of fear he’d seen from Uncle Pietro and Hope.

*******

Teddy was once more tugging on the hem of his jacket in nervousness, this time the nice lightweight blue blazer his mom had bought him instead of his SHIELD uniform – it felt odd to wear something so… so ‘civilian-like’ after being in uniform for so long, and after tomorrow he’d be an official agent.

“There’s my boy – you always did clean up nice.”

Teddy felt heat creep up over the back of his neck and along his cheeks as he turned around and found his mother smiling at him, dressed in a lovely cream colored dress with a dark blue sweater. “We’re almost matching,” he told her as he held out his left arm.

“That we are.” She slid her right arm through his and hugged it close to her side. “Did I tell you how handsome you looked up there in your uniform earlier?”

“Just about ten times.” He ducked his head and smiled as he ran his right hand through his hair, hair that was still a little too short. Just a few more days…. As his fingers brushed over the tips of his right ear, he thought with some regret that it would be a while longer before he’d be able to wear all of his piercings again, until a few more levels of rank. At least he’d been able to put one set of them back in now that training was over.

“Well it’s true. If only your father could see you.” There was an odd note to his mother’s voice when she mentioned his father, something she rarely did; maybe joining SHIELD hadn’t been Teddy’s life goal, but it wasn’t so bad, not when he thought about his father and how he’d given his life in the military all those years ago.

“I think you just have a weakness for men in uniform,” he teased his mother, and felt a little better when she gave him a shaky smile in return. They continued to stroll down along Broadway, an old tradition of how they would spend a rare night off before heading somewhere quieter for dinner – it was comforting, to be surrounded by all the people and the lights and the noise.

She gave his arm an almost painful squeeze for a moment. “There’s nothing going on in Genosha, right? I mean… it’s so far away and you’re so new to everything.”

“It’s fine,” he hurried to assure her. “I might be the youngest agent going, but not by much.” He mustered up a smile and bumped his arm into her shoulder. “I think they just want someone to boss around while we’re over there, to be honest. From what Clarice’s told me, there’s always a poor lackey or two who gets stuck making the Starbucks runs and everything.”

His mother let out a weary sigh and reached over to fuss with the collar of his white shirt. “It’s comforting to know that the fate of the free world rests on your ability to know the difference between a grande skinny cinnamon dolce and a tall flat white.”

Teddy let out a low whine as he hung his head in mock shame. “You mix up an order *one time* and you’re marked for life.”

“Never mess with a mother’s caffeine *and* calorie intake, young man.” She laughed as she gave his forehead a gentle flick of her fingers before she rested her head against his shoulder. “Still, I am proud of you. It’s going to be difficult, you being so far away.” Her smile slipped for a second, and he could tell that she forced it back for his sake.

He swallowed past a throat gone tight as he gave her arm a quick squeeze. “It shouldn’t be that long, and SHIELD will give me room and board while I’m over there. That means I can send you most of my salary while I’m gone – that’s enough for you to find someplace nice.” He shook his head when she made to object. “No, I’m serious about this. There’s no reason for you to stay in that place by yourself.” No reason he couldn’t look after *her* for once, after all the years she had sacrificed for him.

It was clear that she wasn’t happy with the plan, but he could keep wearing her down with it until she left their ramshackle apartment building. “We’ll talk about this later.”

“I don’t have to be back until 23:00 – that’s 11PM to you civilians,” he teased as they headed toward Madison Avenue. “That late enough?”

“Ooh, listen to the big man talk,” his mother laughed and gave his arm a shove. “You better have some good arguments ready.”

Enjoying the sight of his mother’s smiling face and the warm late summer night, Teddy felt as if for once, things were going right in his life. That all the unexpected turns lately had led him to where he needed to be after all. Laughing along with his mother as they passed a busker tossing a set of glowing, humming balls in the air, he felt as if a weight was gone from his chest and looked forward to the future for the first time in months.

******* 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...and things are starting to come together, no? Slowly but surely....  
>  Much thanks to everyone who left kudos and any comments, they are truly appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, plotty stuff happens this chapter. Honest. It does. And maybe something good....
> 
> Thank you so much for the kudos and the comments! They are greatly appreciated!

*******

One of the nice things about the night shift was how quiet it always was, especially down in Archiving.  Harold turned up the volume on his Stark bBox a little louder since he really liked the sixth track on the latest Dazzler album (not as good as her third, but better than the previous one) and got back to the task of filing away the various mission details that had piled up in the past week (really, what was with all the hard copies? Sure, SHIELD was big on the artifacts, a layover of the big war days, but couldn’t they just link to digital reports or something?). Ah well, he should be happy that he had such an easy job….

He’d just started to sing along to the eighth track and spun around in his chair when he noticed the disapproving face staring back at him from the monitors lined up against the far right wall. “Dammit, Sarah, you’re going to give me a heart-attack,” he screeched.

“It’s not my fault that you’ve been ignoring my pings for the past five minutes,” she informed him while sounding rather annoyed. “This is important, Harold.”

“Yeah, I gathered that from the way you cracked the firewall,” he muttered as he turned down the music. Knowing better than to take her to task over it – she knew what was at stake for both of them just as much as he did - he shook his head and did the best he could to still the frantic beating of his heart. “So what’s up – you wanna know about Teddy, right?”

Her expression softened a little at the question, morphed more into worry than anything. “Something’s up, I can feel it. Why are they sending him to Genosha like this? He’s too new, too raw.” All of a sudden her eyes narrowed into a look he was well familiar with, one that made him want to push away from the screen. “What have you found out?”

“Not much.” He held his hands up in a placating manner as if she could come through the screen at any moment. “Look, I’ve been watching out for him like you asked, and as far as I can tell, they truly do buy into the whole ‘he’s a mutant’ line. Something’s going on with the mission, that I *do* know, but it’s come down from the higher ups and I can’t sniff out anything other than they want your kid because he’s a shapeshifter – his cover’s still intact. The rest of the part *seems* nice and general, but I can say that the older agents got a good bit of experience while the younger ones are just that, younger and random.” He’d done his best to look into the matter as surreptitiously as possible, knowing that Sarah would be after his ass as soon as Teddy was involved.

The deadly anger was slow to fade from Sarah as she seemed to consider the information. “I don’t like this – you and I both know that the perfect agent for a royal assassination is a shapeshifter.”

“Yeah, but Teddy doesn’t know anything about… well, anything about *that*, right?” They’d both left their pasts behind when they’d come here, and only the fact that they were exiles in common and needed allies had bonded the two of them together, them and the others.

Sarah was quiet for about a minute before she answered. “Yes, and it’s going to stay that way.” She rubbed at her eyes a couple of times before offering Harold a tired smile. “Thank you.”

He smiled back and shrugged. “No problem, looking after him these last few months makes me feel like the kid’s honorary uncle or something. He’s certainly grown up from the last time I’d seen him.”

“He’d make both of them so proud.” The exhaustion slipped away from Sarah’s face as she smiled with evident love, quickly replaced with that deadly determination and anger. “That’s why I refuse to let him be used as a pawn.”

Harold nodded then motioned to the various servers humming along behind him, as well as the rows of filing cabinets. “I’ll keep looking on my end, too.”

The smile from before returned to Sarah’s face. “Thank you, Har-vell.” Then the screen went blank.

It had been a long time since Harold had heard that name, and for once it didn’t fill him with a sense of loss and shame. He stared at the blank screen for several seconds before he pushed away from the desk so he could finish with his work as quickly as possible in order to devote the rest of his shift to digging around for the information that Sarah had requested.

*******

Feeling rather put out at the moment, Tommy tugged at the vice grip Uncle Pietro had on his arm and huffed; the game of cat and mouse he’d been playing with the guards that Grandfather had sent after him had been amusing as hell – he’d been leading them on a merry chase through Southern Asia at the time when Uncle Pietro had to step in and run him down in Chiang Mai. As if that hadn’t been bad enough, he had to be *lectured* about family responsibility the entire way home – it was enough to make him wish for a case of selective deafness or something. “Come on, as if it wasn’t sheer torture spending the past five minutes with you, you’re gonna drag me off to Grandfather and give him a chance to repeat the same old boring shit,” Tommy complained as Uncle Pietro hauled him through the palace hallways.

“No, I’m not in the particular mood to inflict your idiotic presence upon Father at the moment, so you’ll go to your quarters instead,” Uncle Pietro informed him in that infuriatingly snobbish tone of his. “Perhaps you can be of some use there.” The ‘for once’ was way too blatantly left unsaid just then.

If it wouldn’t upset Mom so much and probably get him an earful from Billy as well, Tommy would punch the arrogant bastard just then, he really would. Instead, he settled for a disdainful scoff and managed to yank his left arm free so he could finish the last few yards to his room on his own, and turned to give his uncle the finger before pushing open the doors leading inside. Demanding, arrogant, smug bastards who thought that they could be so bossy because-

It took Tommy a moment to realize that something wasn’t quite right, that something was *off*; a lifetime of being raised as a potential kidnapping target – or worse – had honed an awareness to his surroundings, and it took him less than a second to take in the disheveled state of the common room he shared with Billy. Why were things left scattered about? Why hadn’t the servants been here to tidy it up, and what was that odd, intoxicating scent permeating the air? Bursting into motion, he dashed into the large room that was still technically their bedroom, even though he barely slept there anymore.

If the common room was slightly off, then the bedroom… the bedroom was *fucked up*. Blue light filled the room while Billy floated a couple of feet off of the floor, his legs tucked up beneath him and wearing a red cloak, of all things. But what really made Tommy stare in shock was the patch of flowers in the center of the room, a patch of flowers that glowed in a myriad of colors, in pinks and lilacs and pale yellows, their petals unlike anything that he’d ever seen – they were the source of that amazing scent. Billy tended to them as if a demented gardener, his hands hovering over them as their petals shifted shape and hue right before Tommy’s eyes.

“Billy… what the fu-“

“Quiet, I’m trying to get these just right.” Billy sounded distracted, because, yeah, he was floating in mid-air while fucking around with a bunch of flowers that were growing right from the carpet in a third floor *bedroom* of all things, so why wouldn’t he? A slight chuckle slipped free of Tommy without him realizing it as he dropped his bag to the floor and leaned against a small table covered with comics and books while he stared at his younger brother messing with… with… what the *hell was he messing with, exactly?

“Uhm….”

“They’re for Mother,” Billy explained, as if reading Tommy’s mind. He frowned at a particular set of blooms until they morphed into something like violet roses on steroids and let out a sigh as the glow around him started to… well, sink back into body as he shifted away from the freaky flowers and allow his feet to settle back onto the ground. “I thought she might like something new for her garden.”

Yeah, she’d probably love the mutated things – especially once she learned that Billy had made them especially for her – but that wasn’t what was important here. “You have *flowers* growing in our *room*, CC,” Tommy felt that he had to point out to the oblivious idiot. “How the *hell* did that come about?”

Billy’s right arm snaked out of the heavy red cloak as he scratched at his head, his black hair even more a rat’s nest than usual. “Ah, yeah, about that.” He gave a nervous laugh and went to settle on his unmade bed; when was the last time a servant had been in here to clean things up? “I… ah… well, I guess someone sorta tried to wake me up when I was having a weird dream and things didn’t go very well… I think my talent reacted and this happened.” He gestured to the room around him, to the flowers and… was the outer wall different? Tommy had to grasp at the table he was leaning against as it sunk in that yes, the entire outer wall of the room was indeed different, that it now sported elaborate double glass doors instead of the row of windows. “Fuck…”

Billy was doing that thing where he hung his head and tugged on a strand of his longs bangs when he was both nervous and embarrassed. “I figured it would be easier for you to get outside now, I mean I’d already wiped it out so what was the big deal with a few cosmetic changes, right?”

‘Wiped it out’…. No wonder Uncle Pietro had personally hunted Tommy down, if this was an example of what was going on back at home. ‘Be of use here’, indeed. Tommy stared at his younger brother, at the faint hint of blue that still lingered in the normally brown eyes that kept glancing his way as if trying to gauge if he was upset or… or something worse, and at the unnatural yet beautiful flowers growing a few feet away.

“So, what possessed an idiot like you to send a glowing blue cat as a messenger rather than just call me on the phone like a normal person?” He noticed the way that his brother’s shoulders tensed as soon as he began to speak, and then slowly relax when it was clear that he wasn’t taking him to task about the room or whatever else happened that time.

Billy finally looked up and rolled his eyes at Tommy. “I don’t know, maybe your lousy track history at answering the damn thing? It’s kinda difficult to ignore Sir Pouncalot.”

“My precious widdle bro, still playing with toys at his age - no wonder you’re single,” Tommy teased as he stepped away from the table, just in time to avoid a cascade of blue sparks.

“I’m single because unlike you, I have some taste,” Billy replied with a dignified sniff as he hugged his cloak around him tighter. Then he grimaced and shook his head. “Though neither of us are going to have much of an opportunity to meet anyone while we’re stuck at home, you know.”

Tommy did some grimacing of his own as he settled on the bed beside his brother. “Don’t remind me – so did you ever get a better explanation out of the old bastards besides ‘it’s for your own good’?”

Billy shrugged and leaned against Tommy’s right side; his hair and the cloak smelled strongly of the strange flowers along with a hint of ozone – it was a weird yet comforting combination. “Not really, just something about how Grandfather’s worried that he can’t keep us safe unless we’re under his thumb, basically.”

Right, one of the fastest mutants alive and someone who could change any weapon into a weird-ass flower with a thought – they were totally helpless. Even if Billy wasn’t all that gung-ho about fighting unless his precious comics were at stake or he’d been called a little girl in front of someone he had a crush on, and in that case the little geek turned *vicious*. The problem was, somehow Tommy doubted that Grandfather and Uncle Pietro were willing to listen to reason right now – to listen to reason *at all*. It was as if the old bastards refused to believe that he and Billy had ever grown up past the toddler stage at all.

“Well, if they won’t listen to us then we don’t have to listen to them, right?”

Billy didn’t have much of a problem following his thoughts just then and sighed, his dark brows drawn together and his hands more plucking at the rich material of his cloak. “You’re just as stubborn as they are, PJ.”

“No, I’m *even* more stubborn, which is why we’re going to win this round,” Tommy insisted as he urged his brother up from the bed. “Grandfather is just having some sort of snit and is taking it out on us – I mean, what’s this ‘security risk’? Countries are lining up to sign treaties with us, things have been pretty peaceful lately and SHIELD squashed that one pain in the ass terrorist group. If there was a big problem, Grandfather would just have you wish it away, wouldn’t he,” he pointed out as he flicked his fingers at Billy’s forehead too quickly to be swatted aside.

Billy frowned, either at the logic or the slight sting, then pouted in a manner in a way that meant that Tommy had won the argument. “I thought you were against him using me like that.”

“I am since there’s nothing wrong with a good old-fashioned fight,” Tommy paused to flex his arms for a moment, “but the old man’s sneaky enough to take out a threat in any manner he can. So I think he’s just making up something to keep us around and bore us to death.”

“Yeah, because that’s how he gets his kicks, by tormenting us,” Billy snarked as he undid the clasp of his cloak and let it float away to settle on a chair across the room; Tommy stared at his brother, at the casual display of power that wouldn’t have happened a few days ago. First the flowers and altered room, now something as seemingly little as that and the gleam of blue in those dark brown eyes that were as familiar as his own. Just what the hell was going on here?

“Uhm… you okay, CC?”

In the process of running fingers through his tangled hair, Billy turned toward Tommy with the corners of his mouth tugged down. “I’m locked down with Caliban trailing after me any time I set foot outside of these rooms, and I think the gardeners are going to riot if I blow up any more of the lower back lawn even if I do my best to restore it to how it was before, but other than that….” He let out a nervous laugh. “First world problems, right?” His shrug just then looked more like a nervous tick, especially since he was tugging at his bangs at the same time. “Or something like that. I’m starting to go a little stir crazy and it’s not as if I really went out that much.” The way that he didn’t quite look Tommy in the eye was rather telling.

“Eh, then why are the rooms such a mess? Did you piss off the servants as well?”

If Billy tugged any harder on his hair, he was going to be bald. “Yeah, that.” He huffed a little as he finally let go of his hair in favor of twisting about the hem of his faded dark blue t-shirt. “I mentioned that I got woke up, right? That’s what set off… all of this?” His left hand waved in a feeble manner about the room to take in the freaky flowers and new doors.

Tommy’s patience, never his strong suit, was wearing thin quickly. “Billy… get to the damn point before we grow old, okay?”

That earned him a weak glare before his brother continued. “Well, I guess whatever Hope saw at the time sorta freaked her out, and now everyone’s afraid to come back in here. I’ve basically been looking after things myself.” He blinked a few times and glanced around the room as if finally realizing that yeah, they were a bit of a mess. “Oh, sorry. Yeah, flowers for Mom, little distracted.” His eyes flared blue first and then the glow consumed his entire body as he began to hover a few inches above the ground. He seemed to stare about the room – it was difficult to tell when his eyes were glowing like that – and then suddenly the room… the room *shifted*.  Tommy didn’t quite know how to describe it, other than one moment it was messy and then one moment it wasn’t, with the bed now neatly made and the table organized, the random bits of clothes and items no longer scattered across the floor and even the damn flowers seemingly lined up in nice rows.  And all without the annoying chanting bit that Billy usually did.

Ever since their powers had manifested years ago, at a young age for what was considered the norm for mutants, Tommy was used to Billy being able to do… well, maybe not weird things but *unusual* things. Unexpected things.  When it came to Tommy’s power, there had been Uncle Pietro to guide him through most of it, but Billy… no one really knew what Billy could do, including himself. For the most part, Billy seemed inclined to stick to small things, to harmless things, to whatever drew the least attention to him…. Yeah, someone was being a late bloomer.

Still, it was a bit pathetic to freak out over something that seemed so small so all Tommy did was blink a couple of times and scoff as he leaned against the now clean table. “Wow, is Grandfather *really* going to put you to work if he finds out about this.”

Billy was quiet for a moment as he floated back to the ground and then he grinned, the expression strained for a moment, as he fussed with the front of his t-shirt in a manner that made Tommy think he was a little embarrassed. “I mean, what does a feather duster have on me, right?”

“I don’t know – you start prancing around in a maid’s uniform and I’m *outta* here.”

That startled a laugh from the idiot and made Billy shower some sparks his way, so Tommy had to run around him in a tickle attack until Billy cried mercy. Tears sparkling in his eyes as he tried to hold back the laughter, Billy *finally* looked a bit normal for the first time since Tommy had returned home, finally looked as if he wasn’t barely holding back on the magic or afraid of something, as if he wasn’t truly all ‘there’.

“Okay, so now I don’t have to hide the porn since we don’t have any more snoops coming in here, but Grandfather thinks he’s put leashes on both of us,” Tommy summed up as he collapsed on his barely used bed. “Pros and cons to everything, CC.”

Billy gave him a sour look and shook his head as he retreated to his own, now neatly made bed where the red cape was folded in a nice pile. “Just how much drinking have you been doing lately? Just for the sake of science, you know – we can compare cognitive function between us and make a nice afterschool special or something on why alcohol is bad.”

Tommy gave the little shit the finger. “Oh please, as if you were ever on my level in the first place. And there’s not enough alcohol in the world to make this family bearable, Grandfather’s latest action being a prime example.” That got an understanding nod from Billy, his previous smart-ass comment aside. “As I was trying to say, Grandfather thinks he’s put a leash on us. What’s this about Caliban?”

Billy fell back onto his bed while toying with a lock of his bangs. “He follows me around whenever I leave the room, so obviously I haven’t been doing it much unless I get dragged off to some family dinner or stuff.” He waved his left hand about in the air, and Tommy noticed that a faint blue glow emanated from it; since when did Billy… ‘bleed’ so much energy? What the *hell* was going on these last few days?

Deciding to deal with one problem at a time, Tommy forced what he hoped was a casual grin on his face while his right foot tapped against the plushly carpeted floor; the rich, exotic scent of the flowers was beginning to give him a headache. “So… tell me that you can mojo a way to whammy his mutant radar.”

The question earned a rather exaggerated sigh from his brother. “That’s a bit redundant, but yes, I think I can ‘whammy’ his radar. The trick is just to do it in a way that he doesn’t know I’m ‘whammying’ him, but I *think* I can do that, too.” Billy stared rather cross-eyed at the piece of hair he was holding out for a moment before he let it fall down. “Why, what do you have in mind? If you go off on another drunken bar crawl, Uncle Pietro will just track you down again.”

“We’ll just have to be subtle for once,” Tommy said. When Billy lifted up on his elbows to give him an incredulous look, he rolled his eyes and sighed. “Okay, *I* have to be subtle for once, are you happy now?”

“Deliriously so – or at least I’m delirious if I actually believe you’ll be subtle. Didn’t even know you had that word in your vocabulary,” Billy scoffed as he sat upright. “Just to be clear here, you do know that ‘subtle’ doesn’t mean restraining from setting the place on fire as you tear down the upper floors, right?”

“Oh fuck you,” Tommy muttered as he threw a pillow at the sarcastic bastard. “Don’t you have some flowers to play with – and speaking of which, how much longer are they going to stay here?”

The question got Billy off the bed and over to the freaky things, where he poked and prodded for a few seconds. “I think they’re ready now.” A simple wave of his hand had the things gathered in two potted tubs, which he held in either arm. “Want to come along?”

“Nah, no reason I need to be there when you make Mom insanely happy with all your hard work or whatever.” Tommy waved his brother off and did his best to not react when Billy vanished in a swirl of blue sparks; yeah, someone had definitely leveled up a bit since it normally took Billy a few seconds to work up a teleportation spell. Sighing as he took out his phone, he wondered how you asked your maybe-girlfriend what was the best way to go about interrogating your younger twin on where the hell they were getting the super mushrooms or whatever to gain the bonus powers. Except said maybe-girlfriend wasn’t supposed to know that baby brother was able to do a fraction of what he’d just done.

Was that why Grandfather was putting them both under lockdown? It made sense if Billy’s powers were getting out of control, but why Tommy? Tapping out a quick message to Kate that some family shit had come up and that he wouldn’t be around for a little bit, he figured that he’d play good only long enough to figure out what the hell was going on around here and then Grandfather and Uncle Pietro could go fuck themselves – what use was it to come from one of the most powerful mutant families around if you couldn’t look out for yourself? Tommy put up with enough bullshit that went along with being a prince, he wasn’t going to live his life in fear because he *or* Billy weren’t your average mutant. The rest of the world could go screw itself.

Feeling the need to do something, Tommy burst into motion and left the quarters he shared with his brother, intent on roaming around the palace until he picked up on some sort of clue about what the hell was really going on around here.

*******

Teddy took a deep breath and checked his surroundings once more; yes, the air was warm and humid even though wasn’t it supposed to be winter here? Weren’t they below the equator? His grades had always been good since he’d intended to go to college, but maybe he should have paid a little more attention in world geography….

“I think I see smoke coming from those cute ears of yours,” Clarice teased as she gave him a pat on the back. “Which I must say, like the new bit of flash.” She reached up to tug at the steel rings he put back in now that he was an official agent; they were just small hoops, nothing too big or ‘flashy’, but it felt comforting to have them in all the same. “And the improved hairstyle. You shifters are lucky in that regard.”

He gave her a shy smile as he combed his hair through the bangs that were just short of his eyebrows, mindful of keeping the blond locks out of his eyes. “It was pretty rough, the basic training.” He understood why SHIELD was so tough on them during that period, but now that Teddy had made it through, it was time to reassert some independence.

Clarice laughed and swept a hand over her own hair, the dark pink strands pulled back into a neat ponytail. “Callisto kept calling me ‘EE’ for ‘Easter Egg’ because of how I looked.” She rolled her eyes over the insult and shook her head. “Woman’s a bitch, but she makes sure we know what we’re doing and she always calls me ‘Agent Ferguson’ now.”

“Yeah.” Teddy managed a smile as he leaned against the brick exterior of the building that SHIELD had appropriated for their headquarters during the mission and hoped that he had sounded convinced just then; Clarice most definitely knew what she was doing, but here he was in a strange country on his first mission, and he was utterly lost – figuratively and literally.

Somehow, his new friend picked up on that and leaned against the wall beside him, a distant look in her green eyes. “Look, Teddy, everyone goes through their first mission wondering what the hell they’re doing. This one *should* be easy in that it’s largely a babysitting job – we keep our eyes open and watch for any weird shit, and if it happens then just let the senior agents take the lead. Should doesn’t mean will, and that’s why you’ve had Callisto bash your head in the last few months, okay?” Clarice turned to smile at him, her white teeth bright against her pale lilac skin. “If you can survive her, then you’ll be all right.”

Not for the first time, Teddy wished that he’d met people like Clarice, Molly and Hisako back when… well, instead of Greg. Maybe if he’d been willing to accept what he was, that he could use his talent for something other than fitting in and sucking up to people…. No, there was no changing the past and despite all the upheaval in his life, he was realizing that he was happy with how things had turned out.

Speaking of Hisako, the young woman came outside as if she was looking for them – or him, as it turned out. “There you are,” she called out as she waved to him. “Guess what? Everyone’s hungry so it’s time for you to make a take-out run,” she informed him with a huge grin on her face.

Teddy groaned as he cast a look Clarice’s way. “I thought you were kidding about that!”

“Nope,” his friend and senior agent informed him with a huge grin. “Lowest agent on the totem pole always does the Starbucks and take-out runs, and that’s officially you now.”

Hisako nodded in agreement, her black ponytail flopping about with the motion. “Oh yeah, I was stuck with it these last few months, but now *I’m* not the newbie anymore.” She smiled so much that her full cheeks nearly eclipsed her dark brown eyes.

“Yeah, I can see it’s really breaking your heart, passing on that baton,” Teddy drawled in a sarcastic manner as he pushed away from the wall. He paused for a moment to run a hand down the front of his dark blue uniform. “Uhm, should I change?”

Clarice seemed to ponder the question for a moment before she shrugged. “Check with Guthrie to make sure it’s okay, but my understanding is it’s not a secret that we’re here. We just didn’t park a helicarrier since it seemed a bit blatant and disrespectful to the local authorities.”

Teddy nodded as he headed inside to check with the senior agent leading the mission; Sam Guthrie seemed nice enough and was approachable for the most part, which gave him hope that this mission wouldn’t be too bad. At least he already had the opportunity to leave the small site designated as their headquarters, even if it was a food run, so there was hope that he wouldn’t be too bored and could get some site-seeing in – Genosha was supposed to be beautiful, and Hammer Bay said to possess a lot of interesting shops, restaurants and bars. Teddy wasn’t quite eighteen yet and so legal in Genosha, but he could still have a bit of fun, he was certain. There had to at least be a decent bookstore or comic book shop *somewhere*.

Maybe he could ask around while picking up the food and if not, search online later tonight. There had been no word on how long this mission would last, so Teddy was determined to both do his best to prove to SHIELD that he deserved to be in the organization and enjoy what time he had in such a lovely country while it lasted.

*******

It was really sad how the best part of Billy’s days lately were his dreams, at how finding himself in the familiar dreamscape of the infinite tiny worlds that brought a soft luminance to the darkness around him, a darkness that oddly enough wasn’t overbearing or frightening. No, somehow he felt at peace here, felt as if he belonged, a sensation that was evermore lacking in ‘reality’.

/Back again, are we? Well, I guess you do manage an iota of stimulating conversation…./

Billy smiled as he looked ‘up’, even if it didn’t help him catch a glimpse of the source of that rich, sardonic voice. “What, you’d rather I go away and leave you to play with all these balls? Do you knock them about like cricket or snooker when I’m not here?” Never mind that ‘DV’ was just a figment of his imagination, he rather liked the idea of someone sexy enough to match the voice having fun in this dream world when he wasn’t around. He realized that he once more was wearing his comfortable red cloak and floating in the air, so he folded his legs beneath him and waited for an answer.

Rich laughter filled the air and for some reason made him blush. /That seems rather insolent, even for *me*. No, I don’t do anything quite so mundane./

“Then what do you do?”

/Oh, this and that./ Didn’t it figure that Billy couldn’t even get an answer from his own subconscious? Somewhere, some psychologist would have a field day with this. /Now, how goes *your* mundane little existence, Imp? Did your mother enjoy the flowers?/

Billy felt some of his good mood vanish at the question and he was grateful for the cloak’s existence as he could hunch inside of it, the hood falling over his face. “Eh, she was really happy about them and spent about half an hour deciding on where they should go in her garden. Hopefully they won’t have any problem growing there.”

/Considering they are *your* magic, I think not./ DV was quiet for a moment and then continued, his voice… somehow quieter. /Methinks that you should be happier since your gift was so well-received, Imp. What is wrong?/

Tears prickled in the corners of Billy’s eyes and the back of his throat went tight at the question; why did it seem that no one but his own subconscious asked him that particular question? “It’s… well, I could tell that the flowers upset Tommy. Maybe ‘upset’ isn’t the right word – he was freaked out but tried not to show it.” No one tried to show it to Billy, they either just pretended it wasn’t true or avoided him altogether – everyone except his mother or a figment of his imagination.

As he pressed the heel of his right hand against his eye in an attempt to stem the tears, one of the shining globes broke away from the others and came to a halt in front of him. “Uhm, I thought I wasn’t supposed to look at them.” He stared in confusion at the miniature world, his tears all forgotten.

/Listen to me, Imp, and listen well. Your talent, your very *being*, is a wondrous thing, is something that many of those less- is something that those around you may not be able to grasp./ DV spoke with obvious fervor, the gentleness of before gone from his rich, hypnotizing voice. /You are coming into your own, and such a metamorphosis is always confusing to those who are used to the caterpillar and now behold the glorious butterfly. Do *not* let their narrow expectations define you./

Something about the words, the authoritative tone called to the power inside of Billy, made it hum inside of him until he felt as if he was made of nothing but magic – and it felt *good*. It felt *right*. Yet he recalled the too-blank look the other day on Uncle Pietro’s face, the way Tommy’s face had morphed through expressions in the bedroom earlier when he had noticed the changes, the flash of shock that had been replaced with such false cheer. “But… but what if I drive everyone away?” He didn’t want to be alone, to lose everyone he loved because of what he was.

The world floated closer to Billy, and looking down into it he could just barely make out a figure with a bright red cloak who then became engulfed in a brilliant sphere of blue. Despite the intensity of the light surrounding the figure – surrounding *him*, because somehow he knew that’s who it was – another figure stood nearby, a figure in green and black armour, a figure who clearly wasn’t letting all that power drive… him? yes, him away as he fought at Billy’s side against what looked to be an army of some sort of-

/See, you will not be alone, there will always be those who know you for your true worth,/ DV assured him as the world was whisked away.

“Even my brother?” Billy hadn’t seen Tommy in that world, hadn’t seen… wasn’t there supposed to be someone green dressed in purple as well?

The question prompted a bitter laugh from DV. /Trust me, older brothers can be… resistant to accepting the fact that their siblings are their equals or better. Give him time to realize that you are no longer… what does he call you? Ah yes, a ‘carbon copy’ of himself but an individual in your own right, and a powerful one at that./

Billy stared longingly in the direction that the world had gone off in, desperately hoping that DV was right – every day his magic felt more and more natural, felt more an integral part of him that he didn’t know if he could go back to just sitting meekly in his room and using it for silly tricks to keep himself and Tommy from growing too bored. And he also longed for what the glimpse of that world had shown him to come true, for him to be himself and have someone accept him for it and be at his side – though yeah, maybe not have to fight whatever the heck those things had been.

He sighed and rubbed his right hand over his face and then jerked it through his hair. “How fucked up am I that I need nightly pep-talks from my own… Id?”

For a moment it felt as if something cold washed through him, cold yet oddly comforting. /You’re not as alone as you think you are, dear Imp. Just a bit more patience./

Billy sighed and hugged the cloak around him. “You know, the next time I decide to dream up a subconscious playmate, I hope I give him a body so I can kick him in the ass for saying annoying things like that.”

More laughter rung through the dreamscape and tugged a reluctant smile from Billy. /Ah Imp, such potential you have. I foresee some interesting times ahead. Until then, let us work some more on your control./

Yep, Billy definitely needed to figure out how to give DV some sort of physical form in these dreams.

*******

Tommy clutched at the sheet covering his soft mattress in an attempt to keep himself from charging off of his bed and across the room to wake up his brother; hadn’t Billy said something about the room getting all fucked up because someone had woken him up the other day? What would happen if Tommy snapped him out of… was it a dream? It sure looked like some sort of fucked up dream or nightmare, like some sort of trance from over here, considering the way that Billy was so still on the bed, illuminated with a bright blue glow that shone through the blankets that covered most of his body. There was even a slight smile on his face so okay, maybe it wasn’t a nightmare, except it *wasn’t* normal for Tommy to wake up feeling as if the air in the room was slowly being sucked out, that *something* was pressing against his lungs because there was an overpowering feel of magic, of… of *potential* and it all radiated from his little brother. His little brother, who was oblivious to it all….

The idiot kept on dreaming with that silly smile on his face and the blue glow around him growing stronger, and Tommy shivered as the temperature in the room began to drop. He had to tug the blankets on his bed around him and start ‘vibrating’, to twitch the muscles in his body in an effort to generate heat against what he swore was the now frigid cold, his breath coming out in frosted puffs of air, yet Billy still slept on peacefully. It wasn’t until he noticed that frost was forming on his brother that he finally got his ass off of the bed and raced across the room – only to be stopped a couple of feet away.

*Something* kept him from reaching Billy, from grabbing hold of the idiot and shaking him awake, and as he stood there in frustration about to yell for help, the frost that had completely encased his brother slowly began to disappear. In fact, the room slowly began to warm up as well and Tommy was forced back to his bed. “What the *fuck* is going on here, Billy?”

He didn’t get an answer, at least not right away. It seemed forever before Billy let out a long sigh and shifted on the bed, the blue glow around him slowly sinking back in to his body. As soon as he moved, Tommy was off of his own bed and pouncing on the little shit, which startled Billy awake – okay, maybe that wasn’t the smartest move he could have made, since it ended up with him being blasted away from his brother. Since when did Billy go on the offensive like that, Tommy thought as he slammed into the wall.

“To-tommy? What?”

“Yeah… my question… exactly.” Oooh, yeah, that was going to leave a bruise… Tommy groaned as he fumbled about on the floor with his limbs and checked to see if anything was busted besides his pride. “Guh-good one, CC.” Other than things being a bit blurry, he thought he was okay.

Billy scrambled from the bed and nearly fell down beside him. “Are you all right? What the hell were you thinking?” He patted gingerly along Tommy’s legs and arms, and once Tommy could focus on just one version of his brother, Tommy could see that the idiot was genuinely concerned about him. “What if I’d hurt you?”

“Please – I’ve taken worse hits from girls half your size who think I’ve gotten too mouthy with them.” Tommy groaned a little as he pushed his brother aside and fumbled to his feet. He felt a little woozy but didn’t think it was anything too serious. “Must have been a nice dream if you freaked out like that over being woken up, eh?”

Billy stared at him with apparent confusion for a few seconds before sinking back on his heels. “Eh, there wasn’t anything special about it.” He pushed back the unruly locks of dark hair that was falling onto his face, a hint of blue still sparkling in his dark brown eyes. “Are you sure you’re all right? Maybe I should get-“

“Nah, I’m fine.” Tommy dashed around his brother to prove that fact, and only felt a little queasy for the first second or two. “Takes more than a wimpy attack like that to do me in.”

Billy appeared a bit doubtful just then, but all he did was frown as he waved his hand at the wall that Tommy had smacked into so that the web of cracks smoothed away before he rocked up onto his feet.  “I’ll remember that for the next time you decide to rearrange my comic book collection from ‘the least dorkiest cover to the most’ again.”

“Aw come on, who still collects comics when they’re old enough to drive a car,” Tommy protested as he shuffled over to his bed. “You’re never going to get anything but a pity fuck if you keep this whole geek thing up, you know.”

“Oh yeah, definitely throwing you harder against the wall next time,” Billy muttered as he crawled into his own bed. “’I’m sorry, Grandfather, but I thought it was someone breaking into the room and just reacted. He didn’t reek of cheap beer and pot for once so how was I to know?’”

Tommy glared and stabbed a finger in his younger brother’s direction. “I *never* go for the cheap beer, I’ll have you know. It’s top shelf or nothing.”

“Nice to know your brain cells are dying in style.” Billy fussed with his bedding until he had the blankets just so and then tugged them up to his chin. “What does the latest girlfriend think of your hedonistic lifestyle?”

Unwilling to talk about Kate just then, Tommy found a certain interest in his own bedding, which was a tangled mess on his own bed. “She thinks I’m perfect,” he mumbled as he righted the twisted pile of sheets and blankets.

“Yeah.” The word came out more as a yawn as Billy seemed to be falling back asleep. “Sure she does, PJ.”

It was a wasted effort on Tommy’s part to give the little shit the finger just then, but it did make him feel better. The bedding finally straightened out, he laid down as well and cast a cautious look across the room to find that Billy was once again out for the night. It was then that he noticed that the room was darker, that he could barely make out his younger brother’s features; he hadn’t realized it before, but Billy must have still been glowing somewhat the entire time that he was awake.

So something weird was going on in Billy’s dreams, something that affected his power. Tommy didn’t know what, exactly, and either Billy was clueless or he didn’t want to speak about it to anyone – which was rare and a bit worrisome.  Whatever the hell was going on, Tommy was going to get to the bottom of it one way or the other. He stared across the room at Billy for a few more seconds before closing his eyes and succumbing to the aches that throbbed through his sore body. Nobody messed with what Tommy considered his, nobody.

*******

Struggling with the urge to shift into a more impressive form, something bigger, more muscular or just… just *better*, Teddy stood to attention while Agent Guthrie talked to Dr. Wisdom-Pryde and her husband, a rather distrustful looking man dressed in a simple black suit who kept casting glares in Teddy and Clarice’s direction. “We have all the sensors installed, Sir, so at any sign of trouble we will ensure that Dr. Wisdom-Pryde is safe as well as the-“

“*I* will handle Kitty’s safety,” Mr. Wisdom insisted, his back going straight and an odd orange glow in his blue eyes.

“The doctor isn’t too bad at watching after herself, you know,” Dr. Wisdom-Pryde murmured, and when her husband turned his rather disgruntled expression her way, threw her hand up in the air then went back to typing something on one of the numerous keyboards scattered about. “No, no, never mind, it’s a male ego thing, I get it. Helpless damsel, right. I’ll order up some corsets right away.”

Mr. Wisdom’s lips twitched for a moment before he turned back to face Agent Guthrie, who had a hint of pink to his cheeks. “*Your* job is to keep any freaky things from messing with her *work*, got it? You blokes seem to think whatever’s doing it isn’t just some run of the mill mutant or mercenary, so here’s your chance to play with something new for once.” That hard, fiery look came back to his eyes, and Teddy had the impression that crossing this man was *not* a very smart thing to do. “Have at it, but don’t get in her way.”

Agent Guthrie’s spine stiffened as he met Mr. Wisdom’s eyes. “We know how to do our job, Sir.” Some of his faint Southern accent came through, either from suppressed anger or insult Teddy wasn’t certain. “You shouldn’t know we’re here unless there’s another attack.”

“That’ll be a first, SHIELD being subtle,” Mr. Wisdom scoffed, but something his wife whispered had him roll his eyes and back away. “Right, we’ll all play nice since we’re guests here.”

“We’re here because *you* went looking for help,” Agent Guthrie pointed out, and judging from the way his steel blue eyes narrowed as he spoke, Teddy got the feeling that he took some pride in saying that.

A cold look settled on Mr. Wisdom’s face, but before he could respond, Dr. Wisdom-Pryde pushed her husband aside and gave Agent Guthrie a nervous smile. “And we’re grateful for everything you and the university is doing for us.” She fiddled with the tortoiseshell glasses that were on her face, the sleeves of her over-sized sweater sliding down her right arm. “But I’ll work best if I don’t have too many distractions, and that’s part of what Pete’s worried about.”

Agent Guthrie’s expression softened and he bowed his head. “Yes, Ma’am, understood. My agents will be stationed nearby but won’t bother you.” He gave her a quick nod and then turned away, and motioned to Teddy and Clarice as he headed to the door. As they left, Teddy could hear Mr. Wisdom ask some questions about corsets and was quite happy to leave the couple alone.

They fell in step behind their commander, and weren’t surprised when he waved them to stop as soon as they were outside of the lab. “You’ll remain here for the rest of your shift – one of you will always be here at all times in case the alarms go off but don’t bother the doctor unless necessary.”

“Wow, Wisdom really does live up to his reputation.” Clarice rubbed the back of her neck as she glanced at the wall behind her. “While I’m glad that he’s around if there’s a fight, I don’t want him mistaking me as the enemy.”

“Just make sure you don’t give him an excuse to start a fight with you.” Agent Guthrie let out a slow breath and ran his gloved right hand over his trimmed blond hair. He didn’t look that old, especially for a senior agent, at least until his jaw became set and the look in his blue eyes hardened. “Everything you’ve heard about that man is true, and then some. That’s the only reason I agreed to have everyone stay out here, even with all the sensors.”

Clarice nodded once as she straightened up. “Any sign of trouble and I’ll teleport us in there, Sir.”

“Good. Proudstar and Ichiki will be relieving you in four hours. Try to stay sharp until then.” He gave Teddy a lingering look before waving goodbye to them.

Teddy felt himself begin to relax for the first time that day, since waking up and reporting to the University of Genosha with Clarice and his new superior. “Uhm, I don’t think he likes me too much.”

Clarice gave his left arm a gentle punch. “Aw, it’s all in your head! There’s no way Sam would hold back if he didn’t like you – you’d *definitely* know it.”

He rubbed his arm even though the punch hadn’t been that hard and hoped that his new partner was right; he should know by now that it was foolish to hope that everyone liked him, that he didn’t have to gain everyone’s approval but some habits were harder to break than others. “I just don’t want to mess up this assignment.”

“You newbies are just too cute. I’d give you a hug but I’m afraid that Wisdom will gut me if he catches us.” Clarice smiled as she settled against the wall, her arms folded across her chest. “So to show you my love, I’ll let you run out for coffee and snacks in an hour, okay?”

Despite himself, Teddy chuckled as he made himself comfortable for the long and hopefully boring watch as well. “You’re just loving this whole ‘newbie as your personal slave’ thing, aren’t you?”

“First thing you learn as an agent, Altman, is take advantage of whatever perks come your way. I’m sure in another year or two it’ll be you sending the newbie off for a latte and scone.”

It was nice to know that someone had faith that he was going to be around after this mission. Ducking his head in embarrassment, Teddy did his best to smother his smile before someone walked past and noticed him grinning like an idiot.

*******

“I can’t believe how well they’ve taken to the garden!” Wanda smiled as she bent down to gently stroke along the petals of a softly glowing lavender… well, Billy wasn’t sure if it was trying to be a lily or a hibiscus, to be honest, or some weird hybrid of the two. It certainly had its own unique scent, something almost cinnamon-y yet with a hint of vetiver as well, odd but invigorating.

“Just let me know if they run rampant, okay? I like your roses and hydrangeas too much to see them go.” He smiled at his mother and helped her to stand to her feet.

“I’m sure it won’t come to that.” Wanda brushed a speck of dirt from her full red skirt before she linked her right arm through Billy’s left and led him away from the blooming garden. “Thank you again for the flowers, and for coming to check up on them. Are you sure you won’t stay for something to eat?”

Billy felt a little bad for turning her down, but he also felt that he was pushing things by visiting every day as it was; he didn’t want to get into trouble from wearing her out, even if his mother seemed so happy to have him visit so often. “I’m sorry, Mother, but I promised Tommy that we’d do something later.”

Wanda gave him an understanding smile as she patted his forearm. “I’m so happy that you boys get along so well.” For a moment her smile faded as she stared off in the distance. “It’s special, being a twin. Even though I’m a… well, even with our differences, your uncle and I share a unique bond. It brought me much joy to know that my children have that in their life as well, especially since I can’t be there for you all the time.”

Shifting about so he could face her, Billy shook his head as he cupped both of his mother’s hands in his own. “We *never* feel as if you aren’t there for us, Mom,” he said in a rush. “You love us more than anything, and *that’s* what matters.” Yes, it sucked that she’d grown weaker over the years, all of the doctors and healers unable to explain why exactly, but it just meant that the time Billy and Tommy did have with her was all the more precious. She was there for them when it mattered, would storm into Grandfather’s office if she thought they needed defending, and Billy wished that he dared do something with his talent if he had any faith that it really would make her better. Yet for some odd reason, his mother seemed to be the one thing that was resistant to his magic….

Her smile returned as she brushed aside the bangs that always seemed to want to fall onto his eyes. “Oh William, you’re such a good boy.” She brought their foreheads together for a moment and let out a soft sigh. “You and Thomas are the greatest gifts in my life. I don’t know what I’d do without you….”

“You never will,” Billy promised as magic thrummed through his veins. “I won’t let you be hurt that way.”

Wanda pulled back to look at him for a few seconds, her lips pressed together and brows drawn tight; he thought he saw a gleam of blue reflected in her brown eyes and wondered what he looked like just then. Yet she didn’t pull away any further, didn’t push him aside in fear or rejection, she merely leaned in to give him a kiss on his forehead and the magic… faded back into his bones and being. “Yes, you are a good son,” she murmured before she resumed walking.

“Will you come tomorrow?”

“Probably. I’ll see if I can pry Tommy away from his bed long enough to have some tea and biscuits,” he offered as she led him to the small, wrought iron gate that led out to the main gardens.

His mother laughed and shook her head. “You two may be twins, but you’re definitely not identical. Still, it would be nice to see my wayward son again – feel free to tell him that.” She waved him goodbye, a lovely woman in an elegant red and black dress, one who looked as if she belonged in some fairytale with her beauty and kind smile and a hybrid ‘rose’ tucked into her wavy brown hair.

If Wanda was a fairy princess, then Billy barely took a few steps before he ran into… what, a troll? Hmm, might be a little too short and scrawny for that. “Caliban, this is getting very old, very fast,” Billy complained to the bald, pale mutant who had been lurking around just outside his mother’s garden.

“Orders I have, Prince William. You are not to disappear.”

“So that gives you the right to stalk me all over the place, even to my mother’s garden?” Billy struggled with his temper, tired of being followed around whenever he left his quarters. “I won’t have you disturb her,” he warned as blue sparks filled the air around him.

Caliban took a step backwards, his expression wary. “The king’s orders-“

“I *know* my Grandfather’s orders.” Billy’s hands clenched into fists as he fought to control himself. “I haven’t stepped foot out of this damn palace in days, so leave me alone!” He called his power to himself and willed himself away, back to his room, to someplace away from people who stared at him as if he was some sort of monster. His power washed over him and within a moment he was in the common room of his quarters.

The anger bled out of him as quickly as it had risen, leaving him feel cold and shaken. Unsure of what had just happened, he ran his right hand through his hair and let out a slow breath.

“-uhm, Kate? Something just… popped up. I’ll call you back later.”

Tommy was sprawled out on the couch with what looked to be a couple of empty bags of chips scattered around him and some crushed bottles of sports drinks as well. “So, have a fun time with Mom,” he asked as he tucked his phone into the back pocket of pants as he stood up, which sent another empty bag floating to the floor.

“Yeah, *that* was fine.” Billy frowned and magicked the mess away; why did he have to have a pig for an older brother? “She said it would be nice if you stopped by tomorrow.”

“Eh, wasn’t I just there like a week or two ago? See, you do this filial shit too much and you raise the bar too high for the *both* of us,” Tommy bitched as he rummaged through one of what looked to be several bags filled with various snacks.

“Yeah, because god forbid you make the woman who gave birth to and raised you happy at all,” Billy drawled. “And where did you get those things?”

Tommy held up a pack of what looked to be something incredibly fattening, fried and delicious. “I told Uncle Pietro that if he insists on this ridiculous lockdown that he better send someone out for some snacks.”

“And it actually worked?” Billy went over to check out the goods, and immediately snatched up the pack of chocolate pudding.

The grin on his brother’s face just then was pure evil. “It did after I followed him around for about two hours, whining and griping the entire time. I figure if he wants us here so badly, I’m going to drive him crazy. Just wait until you see what I have planned tomorrow.”

Billy hoped that his brother knew well enough to leave Grandfather out of the line of fire – there was no way he wanted to end up any closer to the throne than he currently was – but hey, if Tommy was happy and occupied then who he was he to rain on his brother’s parade? “Whatever floats your boat, PJ.”

Tommy flicked a chip at him for the nickname and snorted. “So, you said that ‘that’ was fine. What wasn’t so fine, eh?” He stared intently at Billy while he crunched a handful of chips with an open mouth.

Disgusted by the display and aware that the asshole was doing it on purpose, Billy grimaced while he willed a spoon into being and pulled his legs up under him so he could sit and eat one of his puddings. “Caliban’s still in stalker mode.” He paused to lick the foil top of the pudding container clean before he made it disappear. “I’m getting a little… annoyed at him being my shadow.”

There was a rarely seen serious expression on Tommy’s face as he watched Billy eat the pudding. “You, annoyed? And it’s not over a crease in your special edition comic or some obscure series being cancelled?” Despite his teasing, his expression remained unchanged. “So, did you ever figure out a way to block the pale creep’s talent?”

Billy paused in eating his pudding to give the question some thought. “I think so.”

Tommy was a blur as he left the room, and within a few seconds returned in a new outfit and holding some clothes for Billy. “Fine then, let’s get going.” When Billy made a sound of protest, the last few bites of his pudding was snatched away and a pair of jeans and a black sweatshirt that were Tommy’s were shoved into his arms. “Come on!”

“But my pudd-“

“I’ll buy you a friggen case, you loser! Get dressed!”

Billy glared as he set his feet back down on the ground. “As if I’m wearing your sweaty clothes.” He shoved them back at his brother and concentrated – the grey dress slacks and white shirt he was wearing changed into a pair of jeans and a red hooded jersey. “There.”

Once again, that too-serious expression was back on Tommy’s face, yet all he did was toss the clothes aside as he raced into their bedroom again so he could return with Billy’s messenger bag and cap that covered Tommy’s white hair – well, most of it. “Okay, no more fucking around. Let’s get out of here for a little bit.”

“Where are we going?” Billy clutched at his brother’s arm as panic began to set in. “I mean, I’m *pretty* sure I can block Caliban’s talent so he won’t know we’ve left, but-“

Once again, Tommy cut him off. “Then we’ll play it safe this time around. We’ll just go downtown for now – Grandfather can’t get into too much of a snit if he finds out. But we need to get out of here before we both go nuts.”

That… didn’t sound too bad. “Please, as if you’ve any sanity in the first place,” Billy teased as he summoned his power first to fool Caliban’s talent into making the mutant believe that they weren’t going anywhere and then to teleport them to Hammer Bay.

“Says the guy who *cries* every time someone dies on that zombie show. *Cries*!”

“I do *not* cry over every death!”

“You were sobbing like a baby that one time!” Tommy was too busy pointing out Billy’s ‘flaws’ that he didn’t even seem to notice that they’d arrived in the small alley behind the pizza shop and that the teleport spell was over. “Flat out bawling!”

“That’s because she was a very important character, you asshole!” Billy tugged his hood up over his head with a bit too much force and wondered, not for the first time, just what it was he’d done in a past life to deserve to be stuck with a brother like Tommy.

“Oooh, CC, help me, I think zombies are coming to get me,” Tommy cried out in a falsetto voice as he shivered in an exaggerated manner and clung to Billy’s arm.

“You’re safe, you moron, they only want people with *brains*.”

Laughing at the insult, Tommy dragged him toward the street. “Aw, you’re so cute when you’re all pissy. Come on, let’s get some caffeine.”

*******

What did it say about him that it was beginning to feel a bit weird to be walking around in ‘civilian’ clothes, Teddy wondered as he entered the large coffee shop/bookstore/music store that he’d spotted while running back and forth to fetch Starbucks. In an age of chains and digital downloads, it was nice to find something like Pierson’s still around, and just walking into the place, to smell the roasted coffee and see people sitting around in the scattered chairs as they read, made Teddy feel a bit more comfortable even if he wasn’t wearing his SHIELD uniform. Now if only he could find Bankston’s, the local comic book store….

He gave the hem of his green t-shirt a tug and then went up to the sprawling counter of the coffee bar, where he ordered large iced mocha. Once his drink was ready, he headed to the book section so he could find something to read during his down time – Agent Guthrie had them on short shifts so they didn’t get too bored or distracted, which meant that Teddy had a lot of time to kill. While he liked Clarice, Hisako and most of the others in his new team, Teddy was the youngest and wasn’t in the mood to hang out at clubs even if he could cheat and change into a more ‘legal’ appearance. No, he wasn’t going to do anything to mess up this assignment, wasn’t going to make the same mistakes again. Better to play it safe and if that meant he’d have some boring nights ahead of him, so be it.

One thing he had to say about Genosha so far was that it amazed him, the amount of mutants around him – New York City had its share of them, but even here, in this store, he had to say that almost half of the people were mutants just from their appearance or from some casual use of talent. It made sense since the country was one of the first safe havens for their - *his* - kind, but it still took some getting used to how normal it all seemed.

Shaking his head at the weird turn his life had taken in the past year, he reached the fantasy/sci-fi section and sipped his drink as he perused the books. Within twenty minutes he found several interesting choices, probably because he was overseas and so had a new pool of authors to select from, and had just grabbed a book from the lower shelf when he stood up and bumped into someone else who was checking out the section.

“Uff! I’m sorry!” Teddy fumbled with his armload of books and his drink for a moment and only caught a flash of faded blue denim and red. “Crap!” One of the books headed toward the floor as he saved what remained of his drink from splattering all over the place.

“Ah, I got it.” The stranger bent down to pick up the book and held it out to him. “And I think I’m partially to blame, too.” Said stranger turned out to be a kid, no, boy, no, aw, heck, he looked to be about Teddy’s age and a little shorter, with unruly dark brown hair that crept out from beneath the red hoodie he wore and flopped into these incredible brown eyes. Wait, not incredible. Just brown eyes. Everyday brown eyes. There was nothing remarkable about this guy at all, Teddy tried to tell himself as he stared with his hand on the book being held out in his direction.

“Uhm, yeah, thanks.” Teddy didn’t take back the book just yet. “Do I… you seem familiar.” Did he know this guy? Surely he would remember meeting someone as… not going there. Sure, it had been a while since he’d… yeah, not going there.

An adorable redness spread across the pale cheeks of the cute stranger – oh hell, Teddy shouldn’t be thinking these thoughts. “I… ah… your book,” the guy stuttered as he latched on to the hem of his red hoodie and began to twist it about in a rather savage manner.

“Thank you,” Teddy repeated. “Can I… buy you a coffee? You know, as thanks?” If he said ‘thanks’ one more time, he was going to bash his head into the wall. But it did seem to get the poor guy to stop tearing at his shirt.

Just as the cute stranger – *stop it*, Teddy ordered himself – appeared ready to answer him, some other guy rushed up to them and bumped into cu – CS. “Hey! Think I’ve got enough music ideas that’ll drive Uncle *crazy*!” He spoke so fast that it was a little difficult to understand him at first, and just when Teddy made sense of the words, he caught the new stranger staring back and forth at him and CS beneath the rim of the black baseball cap he was wearing. “What’s going on?”

CS produced a strangled sound and made an abortive motion with his right hand in Teddy’s direction. “Nothing! We just… this is… uhm….”

Were these two together or something? Was that why CS was freaking out and the new guy all of a sudden seemed so protective? “Your friend was helping me out. I’m Teddy.” He shuffled his books and cup about in his arms and held out his right hand. “Nice to meet you…?”

He caught a quick sight of baleful green eyes and then Rude Guy was dragging CS away. “Yeah, whatever. Come on, we have more shit to do before we- let’s go.”

CS allowed himself to be dragged away, yet he turned back to give Teddy a small wave and a smile as he left. Feeling like a dork for being cheered up by that fact, Teddy waved back with an idiotic grin on his face.

Maybe he would see CS again….

******


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Still working on this, though also working on a couple of other things so hence the lack of steady updates. But there's more coming, I promise!

******  
Appearing back in the common room of their quarters, Billy braced himself for the anger that had been simmering in his brother ever since they’d left Pierson’s. It seemed that their feet had barely touched the plush carpet and the faint glamour he’d cast over them to mask their – well, Tommy’s distinctive hair color – vanished when his brother put some distance between them and threw aside the bag of various snacks and items he’d picked up during their excursion. “So what the *hell* was that about, back there?”

“Uhm, you wanna narrow it down a bit more,” Billy asked, even though he had a good idea what Tommy was going on about – well, the *what*, though not the *why*.

Tommy was a blur of motion for a few seconds, whizzing around the room to toss various things about this way and that, to ruffle the pillows on the couch and pull out the chairs set by the small table. Once the room was enough of a mess, he came to a stop in front of Billy, his tantrum seemingly over for the moment. “That guy in the store – the surfer wannabe. He your type all of a sudden.”

Yeah, that would be it. “You mean Teddy?”

Tommy’s green eyes narrowed and he threw his hands up in the air before settling them on his hips. “Oh, *Teddy* is it? Since when do you get so chatty with strangers, eh?”

Feeling a headache coming on, Billy sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Okay, first, I think I said like… six words to him? Maybe? We bumped into each other, I handed him a book that he dropped and he thanked me for it, and that’s about when you showed up and dragged me away. Second, I thought you’ve been after me to meet someone. Hypocritical much?” Why did it have to be that when he’d finally stumbled across a cute guy that his *brother* had to be there as well and ruin things for him? Yeah, it was official – life hated him.

The accusation seemed to derail his brother’s thoughts for a bit, since Tommy stared at him with mouth agape, and then he huffed for a couple of seconds while his hands were once more thrown up in the air. “I said you needed to get laid, not to do it in the middle of Pierson’s!”

Okay, Billy had enough of this ridiculous conversation. “I’d say you’re crazy but that fact has long been established. I don’t know what type of perverted stuff you get into when you’re not here, but *talking* to a guy is not having *sex*!” He didn’t even wait for whatever bullshit Tommy was going to come up with next before he teleported out of the room, needing some space between the two of them at the moment. So what if the gardeners would be after his head for this, it was time to blow up some more rocks before he did something he, well, didn’t regret – and that was the problem.

Seriously, couldn’t Tommy had at least let him have a damn cup of coffee with the guy?

*******

Tommy watched Billy vanish into thin air and cursed himself while he kicked at one of the chairs that he’d pulled out, knocking it to the floor. Yeah, that had gone real well, hadn’t it? So much for putting Billy in a good mood and then asking him about the weird dream last night in an effort to find out what was going on with his younger brother. Just… as much as he did get on Billy’s case about meeting people, about not being such a loner dweeb all the time, it had been a bit of a shock to see Billy all flustered yet smiling at some stranger. At someone who didn’t know that Billy was an idiot around people, that he mostly said the wrong thing or would geek out when nervous which was most of the time and…. Tommy was just looking after the little shit, making sure that guy didn’t make fun of him or… or….

“Shit.” He kicked the chair again and pulled out his phone so he could call Kate. Maybe she could make sense out of… whatever this was.

The phone rang a few times before she picked it up. “T! Don’t know if it’s a good sign or bad that I was just thinking about you.”

“Always a good sign, princess,” he insisted as he settled on the couch. “How’s life? Getting bored yet redecorating that castle?”

“Eh, it’s coming along but I’ll have to put it on hold for a bit to go help out a friend. What about you? Is the family drama still going on? It have something to do with why you had to drop off so suddenly earlier?” It sounded as if Kate was busy on the other end as there was various rustling noises in the background.

“There’s *always* family drama going on,” Tommy explained as he picked at a loose thread in the ripped hole at the left knee of his jeans. “But yes, it’s being even more drama-y than usual. I had to leave because Billy came by and… well, that’s complicated, I’ll tell you another time.” When he figured out just what exactly he could tell her about the whole fucked up situation. “What’s going on with you that you have to halt your grand plans?” He wasn’t really paying any attention when Kate had gone on and on and *on* about this fabric and that and paint swatches and, yeah, *boring*, but what had caught his interest was how expressive she’d been and the lovely smile on her face as she described her plans for putting a major dent in her dad’s bank account while dragging the mini-castle’s dated exterior into the 21st century.

The other end of the line was silent for a few seconds, save for what sounded to be something zipped closed. “Oh, I think I’m going to leave it as a surprise for now, save to say I’m doing at least one friend a favor.” Kate’s voice just then was highly amused and just a little bit naughty, causing Tommy to sit up from the sprawl he’d been in on the couch. Dammit, he really wanted to dash over to England right now and find out what she was up to, to see that sexy smile in person. “So this family drama – you wouldn’t be contributing to it in any way, would you?”

“Aw, why do you have to be so mean to me,” he whined as he sank back down onto the soft pillows of the couch. “Is that how you really think of me?”

“As a grade-A troublemaker? Hell yes,” Kate informed him without the slightest pause. “It’s one of your finer points.”

He grinned even though they weren’t currently vid’ing each other just then. “I *knew* you were falling for me.”

That won him a laugh that somehow made him feel better, that made him wish that he had set up a vid chat when he’d called. “More like I feel responsible for you somehow.”

He’d take what he’d get and make it work out in the end – what was it about this girl? “Oh, does that mean you’ll spank me if I’m *really* bad?”

Kate’s sigh just then was a bit too exaggerated to mean that she was really upset. “T… I’m beginning to feel sorry for your family right now.” Yet there was a hint of laughter to her voice just then. “Do all of us a favor and try to stay out of trouble for five minutes, okay? Be a good boy and maybe I’ll have a nice gift for you, okay?”

“Only for you, princess,” he promised.

The sound of Kate blowing him a kiss preceded the call being ended. He was still smiling as he stared down at the phone, at least until he realized that he hadn’t gotten any advice on the whole Billy situation. Ah well, he would give his brother some time to cool down and then… knowing him, he’d just avoid the whole ‘all right, I was an idiot for overreacting to some guy hitting on you’ topic. Knowing Billy, his brother would probably avoid it, too, and life would go back to normal. At least, as normal as things were around here anymore, what with Billy’s powers going nuclear and Grandfather deciding that they couldn’t go two steps anywhere on their own.

Tommy really hoped that Kate wasn’t kidding about that whole gift thing, as he could use a *nice* surprise right about now.

*******

Finished packing her bags, Kate looked around her room and decided that she hadn’t forgotten anything of importance – well, anything that couldn’t be bought once she reached Genosha. Reaching for her phone, she flicked through her contacts and texted Cassie’s number as she headed to the bathroom for one last check – she figured her friend would see the message when she woke up. So it was a bit of a surprise when her phone rang a minute later.

“Cassie, what are you doing up so early? Or are you still up?”

“Uhm, it’s the first – there’s so much to do that we got up really early! We have to pack and make sure everything is taken care of here and – but wait, I’m calling to check up on you! How’s things there?”

Smiling at the energy evident in her friend’s voice even over the phone, Kate chuckled while she opened and searched through various drawers for any missed items. “I just wanted you to know that my flight leaves in about four hours, so I’ll be headed to the airport soon. When will you and your dad be leaving?”

“Oh my god, you’re really doing this? I can’t thank you enough!” There was what sounded to be a bit of a squeal on the other end, and then muffled speaking as if Cassie was calling out to her father. Kate smiled and shook her head – one of the things that she liked most about Cassie was how energetic and enthused the younger girl was, how… how refreshing she could be from Kate’s more… jaded friends. She didn’t approve of how Scott Lang often brought Cassie along to some of the corporate fundraisers, especially Stark’s, but he did look after his daughter and it meant that Kate had someone who wasn’t drunk or an idiot to talk to while at the usually boring dinners.

After a few seconds Cassie was back on the line. “We’ll be leaving tomorrow morning - I think he’s still clearing a few things. Will you be all right there by yourself?”

Touched by the girl’s concern, Kate smiled even though Cassie couldn’t see it. “Yes, it’ll give me some time to get set up and maybe get in touch with a friend or two I have there. Call me when you land, okay?”

“I will.” There was another few seconds of quiet and then Cassie spoke in a rush. “I’m so very thankful that you’re doing this, really. It would have sucked to be there all alone except for my dad and his science buddies.” She sounded so relieved just then that Kate almost felt a bit guilty that she wasn’t just doing this for Cassie’s sake.

“It’s… it’s not a big deal – I told you that I was getting a bit bored with the scene here and that I know some people in Hammer Bay. It’ll be fun for both of us,” she promised. “Now I really have to go.”

“Have a safe trip,” Cassie wished her before ending the call.

Done checking things, Kate went to put her phone away in her purse and then headed downstairs, where she could ask Oliver to help carry her bags out to the car. She was a little disappointed to leave the renovation project when it was incomplete, but she trusted Oliver and Emily to see it through in her absence, and knew she’d have more fun spending the next few weeks with Cassie than supervising people hanging curtains and painting walls. Besides, there was something Tommy wasn’t telling her and she loved a good mystery. At least, that’s what she told herself as she checked her flight status for about the seventh time in the past half an hour.

Just because he was fun, trouble and possessed some unexpected depths didn’t mean that Kate was interested. No, not at all. She was just helping out a friend, getting away from the party scene here and if she could manage to surprise Tommy at the same time, that was an added bonus. Maybe if she kept repeating that to herself, she could make it sound convincing by the time she reached Genosha.

*******

Finished smashing rocks and annoying the gardeners for the time being, Billy returned to his room hoping to find it empty so he could spend the time before dinner reading in peace. He just wanted to be alone, just wanted some quiet time when people weren’t looking at him as if he was… he didn’t know. As if he was a problem or a pain or… why couldn’t they look at him like that guy at the bookstore had – well, before Tommy had shown up. Well, maybe not his *family*, but-

He was spared from his thoughts growing any weirder when he stepped into his quarters and found Tommy zipping around, a white and blue blur as he dashed about appearing to look for something.

“What did you lose now?”

Tommy came to a halt before Billy and scrunched up his nose. “My favorite hat – the green and silver one. Had it just last night, I swear.”

The idiot was always losing things. Rather than watch him tear the room apart – it was already in shambles, Billy summoned his magic and ‘wished’ for the stupid thing to appear, which it did in a swirl of glowing blue in his upheld right hand. “Here, now slow down and stop wrecking the place,” he complained as he threw it in his brother’s direction.

Not that he expected some profuse thanks for his assistance, but it would have been nice to receive something other than a narrowed look for his help. Billy shook his head and concentrated more on the mess around him, which caused the turned over chairs, scattered pillows, drifts of garbage and tossed about clothes to either mysteriously disappear or return to their rightful places; maybe it was time to talk to Grandfather about the two of them getting their own rooms – this whole ‘you’re twins so you need to stick together’ thing was growing very old, very fast.

He had just made it into the bedroom and was headed to the nearest bookshelf for something to read when Tommy raced ahead and came to a stop in his path. “So, CC – Billy, you don’t think there’s anything odd about what happened here, do you?” He waved his hat about for some reason, his green eyes intent on Billy’s face.

“What, that you’re an inconsiderate pig? Nope, seems pretty normal to me,” Billy remarked as he scooted around his brother and figured that he’d read something off of his tablet instead. He’d just about reached his bed when the pest once more dashed into his path. “Do you mind,” he asked while flailing his hands about before resting them on his hips.

“Actually, I do.” Tommy shoved the hat into the back of his jeans and folded his arms over his t-shirt clad chest, a stern expression on his face making him look like a younger version of their uncle; Billy wished he had his camera to take a picture just then so he could tease his brother about that fact. “Look, in the space of like, a minute, you magic up my hat and then Mary Poppins this place as if it was nothing. *Nothing*. Doesn’t that seem a bit unusual to you?” His brows became even more furrowed as he leaned in a little closer. “You’re not even tired, and this is after you’ve teleported several times today and cast a bunch of other stuff.”

Taken back by his brother’s sudden interest in his ability, Billy ran his right hand through his hair and shrugged, uncomfortable and… and upset for some reason. “So what, are you unhappy that I’m not?” When something like guilt flashed across Tommy’s face, Billy felt his upset grow, felt a bit angry as well. “Is that it? You think I should be lying in bed or all exhausted after casting a few spells?”

“No, that’s not-“

“Well screw *you*!” The magic simmered inside of Billy along with his anger, so potent and *welcome* that it began to seep through his skin. “What, little Billy, your weak, *pathetic* carbon copy of a brother, is finally able to do something other than parlor tricks for once and you don’t like that?” The magic continued to spread, to grow, and Billy didn’t care. “You’re just going to have to get used to it, Tommy. Things change, and I’m not going to let you or anyone else be in control of me or my power just because-“

It was then that Billy noticed that Tommy was staring at him wild-eyed, that the room… that the room didn’t seem to really be *there* anymore. It was beginning to look a lot like the place of his dreams, that endless void with the infinite floating spheres. If he concentrated on them, weren’t those sparkling bits the-

No, he shouldn’t be here now, and Tommy *definitely* shouldn’t be here. Billy moaned as he focused on their room, the familiar plastered walls and the plush carpet and the mahogany furniture they’d always gotten yelled at if they so much as left a scratch in it…. After a few shuddering, almost hyperventilating breaths, the ‘dream’ world faded away and ‘reality’ returned, the cream colored walls cast with blue as Billy’s power pulled back somewhat into himself.

Tommy stood there gaping at Billy for several seconds as Billy stood there with his fingers dug into his forearms, waiting for his brother’s reaction, and then he shook his head. “Billy… what the *hell* are you doing? This is insane! It’s not like you at all!”

For a moment Billy was so relieved that Tommy wasn’t yelling at him, wasn’t calling him a freak or worse, and then his words sunk in. “How the hell would *you* know?” When Tommy looked ready to argue, Billy cut his brother off with a wave of blue sparks – not magic, just a show of frustration. “You’re *never* here anymore! You’ve been here more the last couple of days than you’ve been in the past three months, so how would you know what is or isn’t like me?” He wasn’t going to take this from someone who ran away every chance he got yet felt as if he could lecture Billy on how to live *his* life. “You don’t have any damn clue how my power really works, who the hell I should be dating, or even what I’m really like so do me a favor and butt out of my life!” DV was right – older brothers were nothing but meddlesome, controlling assholes. Well, Billy wasn’t going to put up with his any longer, not right now at least.

He allowed his power to pull him away from the bedroom and take him away, to the nearest place of sanctuary – his mother’s garden.

*******

Well, *that* had gone to shit quickly, hadn’t it? Tommy kicked at the bottom of his bedframe and yelped in pain a moment later, forgetting in his anger how the furniture was such a solid piece of wood – his anger at Billy, at Grandfather for ordering them to stay here, and mostly at himself for fucking things up with his mouth and his inability to think before speaking. Yeah, he wanted to call his brother out on his increased use of magic but really? Had Tommy really learned nothing in all their years together?

Rule number one – never push Billy when he was feeling defensive. Billy might be the quiet twin and seem all passive, but he was still a Lehnsherr; if he felt the need to fight, he didn’t hold back. And right now… right now Billy had quite the arsenal at his disposal. Tommy still couldn’t believe how the room had changed around him, and he didn’t think it was just an illusion. The very air had felt different, and the worst part is he didn’t think that Billy had meant to do anything. No, his brother had just been yelling at him and slowly everything had changed….

“Fuck.” Tommy rubbed his left hand over his face as his right fished his phone out of the pocket of his jeans. Even if he didn’t know what the hell he was going to say to Kate, he needed to talk to her right now. Just hearing her voice would make things better, someone not involved in all of this crazy stuff. She’d tease him and call him an idiot, maybe let him in on whatever secret she was up to and take his mind off of his brother and his grandfather and the rest of his crazy family.

So of course the call went straight into voicemail. Tommy groaned in annoyance while he waited to leave a message. “Really, princess? You’re leaving me hanging? That surprise of yours better be worth it, is all I’m saying.”

Done with his phone, he shoved it back in his pants and wondered what to do next – obviously not go after Billy, unless he wanted to start yet another fight with his brother. Considering that he’d already pissed him off over that guy in the bookstore and now this, Tommy figured he’d better leave Billy alone until the geek cooled off. Maybe he’d see about some sort of peace offering, like that pudding. Yeah, that way he could annoy Uncle Pietro in the process….

*******

Wanda couldn’t help but smile as she stroked her fingers through William’s unruly hair, even as she felt concern for her youngest son. “You know, there is a chair for you.”

“’s okay. M’fine.” William remained sitting on the ground with his right arm draped over her lap and his head resting against her knees. His pose reminded her of when he had been smaller and had half-hidden amongst her skirts as she sat in her garden, pressing against her whenever Pietro had come to take him and Thomas away at the end of their visit.

Her boys had grown so much since then, grown so big and powerful, and while Thomas was too much like Pietro – no, too much like Father to visit her very often, William was the true child of her soul. Oh, she didn’t love Thomas any less for his independence and knew that she was loved in return, but William wasn’t afraid to show the depth of his love, and William knew the peace to be found sitting amongst these blooming flowers when the world turned cruel.

As she had always feared, the world was indeed proving cruel to those she treasured most; Thomas had his uncle’s and grandfather’s ‘strength’ to shield him, whereas William… oh her poor William. He didn’t have their aloofness, their ability to hold parts of themselves back and Wanda ached for him. It would make him stronger in many ways, yet it also brought him here like this much too often for her to bear.

All she could do was be here for him, to give him her love; she combed through a particular stubborn tangle and leaned down to press a kiss against the top of his head. “My William.” His arm tightened around her thighs as she spoke and he closed his eyes. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

“No?” Since it was clearly a question, she continued to stroke her fingers through his hair and waited patiently; she’d learned over the years that if she was quiet long enough, William would provide her the answers. “It’s just… lately….” He shifted about a little and rubbed his cheek against her knee. “Are you afraid of me?”

“Hmm?” She frowned and stroked her thumb over the tip of his left ear, which was just the slightest bit pointed as her own. “Frightened of you? *Never*,” she swore to him. “Frightened *for* you, all of the time, but never of you.”

William pushed away from her so he could look up, and something clenched inside of her chest to see that his eyes were reddened as if he’d been holding back tears. “Why is that?”

She reached out to brush her fingers across his cheek. “Because you’re my beautiful young man, so special that you glow with it at times, and… and the world isn’t always gentle to people like you, William. Because you’re so much like me, and I know how much I’ve been hurt even with everything your grandfather and uncle have done to keep me safe.” Her fingers uncurled so she could cup his face, his skin so soft and warm beneath her touch. “You’re so special,” she repeated.

He flushed a little and glanced downward. “You’re just saying that because you’re my mother.” Yet a hint of a smile lingered on his lips.

“Partially true, but it doesn’t change anything that I’ve said.” Wanda let her right hand slip to his chin to force her son to look up. “Even I can feel the power inside of you, William. That’s not a reason to be frightened – it all depends on what you do with it, and I know *you* well enough to trust you.”

He stared back at her with eyes that slowly turned a gleaming blue. “Do you really?”

“Yes.” She leaned forward to press a kiss against his forehead. “Always and forever.”

William let out a shuddering breath and by the time she sat back in her chair, his eyes were once more their familiar warm brown. He managed a shaky smile and rested his hands in her lap as he knelt before her, some of the sadness and shadow that had clung to him from before now gone. “Do you say the same to Tommy?”

She laughed a little and gave him a gentle flick to his nose. “Maybe, if he ever came to visit me.”

“Hmm, I know, I plan to get on him about tomorrow.” A frown settled on William’s face at the mention of his brother, leaving Wanda to wonder if perhaps Thomas wasn’t responsible for what had brought him here.

“Be sure to do that,” she chided; she wanted to see her sons together to gauge their behavior, to figure out if Thomas was responsible for William’s recent unhappiness or not. If he was… well, she didn’t like playing favorites but she didn’t condone bullying, either. If Thomas wasn’t the reason, then perhaps she needed to pay a visit to her brother and her father for some answers.

*******

His hands immersed in hot, sudsy water, Teddy had to smile a little in that he hadn’t seen it coming in that the ‘newbies’ also got stuck with the unwanted chores along with doing the coffee and food runs; he was usually a good sport about things, but if someone dumped their dirty laundry on him, he was going to do a load with lots of bleach and hot water regardless of whatever the clothes were before announcing that he was drawing the line *right there*. The local baristas already recognizing him and having the nearby pizza joints on speed-dial was one thing, but he was *not* dealing with anyone’s dirty underwear but his own. Even being stuck with the dishes wasn’t too bad, since he’d always helped his mom out with the chores back home.

He was down to the silverware when Clarice strolled into the kitchen, dressed casually in a pair of cutoff shorts and a loose t-shirt bearing a faded SHIELD emblem that looked as if she’d swiped it from someone a lot bigger. She leaned her back against the sink and waited until he was finished with the dishes to hand him an opened bottle of beer.

“Uhm, thanks, but I’m-“

“It’s one beer, Altman, and you look like you can use it. Don’t worry, I’m not trying to get you drunk and take advantage of you.” She waited until he accepted the bottle with some reservations and crinkled her nose. “Besides, you’re not my type.”

He blinked a little at that and cocked his head to the side. “What type is that?”

Clarice waited until she had a sip of her own beer – some brand he’d never heard of before, so probably local – before she answered. “Well, the whole ‘I like guys’ thing isn’t a turn-on, but mostly you’re just way too cute and earnest for my tastes. I feel like if we ever got in a fight, you’d do that thing where you look through those bangs of yours with those big blue eyes and it’s game over. Blech.” She grimaced and rolled her eyes. “*I’m* supposed to be the adorable one who gets away with everything in a relationship, I’ll have you know.”

Teddy almost spit up his beer upon hearing that, which was a shame because it was pretty good. “Oh please, this from a woman who got yelled at for nearly gutting the one target on her last mission who was supposed to be brought in alive. Yeah, I heard about it,” he told her when she gave him a sidelong look.

“Hmph, but I looked *utterly adorable* while doing it, you better believe it.” She nudged him with her left elbow and smiled. “There we go, now you don’t look so much like a big, blond, moping sheepdog.”

He was surprised to find himself smiling and had to tug on his bangs with his damp fingers; it had grown in nice and thick even if he was keeping it mostly out of his eyes. “Thanks, both for that and the beer.” He held up the bottle in a silent salute and had another sip.

“So you gonna tell Auntie Clarice what had you sulking all through dinner? You did all right through your shift today so it’s not work.” Clarice hopped up to sit on the counter and held her half-empty bottle of beer between her hands. “It’s not good to keep things bottled up when other people depend on you,” she informed him, her demeanor suddenly turned serious.

Conceding that she’s made a good point, Teddy stared down at the bottle in his hand and struggled to put his thoughts into words. “It’s… I met a guy, I guess. Well, sorta met.” He looked up and gave her a weak grin.

Clarice stared at him, green eyes mostly level with his own because of her perch, and frowned. “All right, and that’s a bad thing? What do you mean, ‘sorta’ met.”

“I asked him to join me for a coffee and I think he was going to say ‘yes’, but this other guy barged in and dragged him away.”

“Huh.” Clarice fiddled with the paper label attached to the glass beer bottle. “So he has a boyfriend? Can’t say I approve of your taste in men, Teddy.”

“No!” Teddy nearly spilled some beer as he waved his hands in denial. “At least, I don’t think so – the other guy looked enough like him to be related.”

“Then I *really* can’t approve-“

This time it was Teddy’s turn to nudge Clarice in the side, enough to risk jostling her from her perch. “Oh shut up, I don’t think it’s like that, you sicko.”

That earned him a laugh from his friend. “Okay, maybe you’re right, but you still didn’t get the guy’s number, did you? And that’s what has you bummed?”

“Yeah.” Teddy felt some of his good mood fade away at the reminder; for the last few months, ever since Greg…. He shook his head and banished all thoughts of his former- yeah, not thinking of *him*. “It’s… been a while since I’ve been interested in anyone, and when I finally find someone who’s cute and might be interested in me, it gets messed up.” All because of Rude Guy.

Clarice was quiet for a minute or so, and when she did speak it was with a tenderness that made Teddy wonder if she knew something about how he’d ended up in SHIELD. “The main thing is that you *did* meet someone. You’re young, and it’s a big world. Maybe you’ll run into the guy again – we *are* stuck on an island, you know, and not a big one at that – or maybe you’ll meet another cute guy who you’ll like even better and actually get to ask out on a date. Life’s funny like that.”

Teddy paused to consider her advice while he finished off his beer. “Do you really think I’ll see him again – the cute guy?” Maybe he could start hanging out that the bookstore or something.

Clarice looked up at the ceiling as if beseeching the heavens. “Oh hell, you already have it this bad for the poor guy? And did you not hear the part about being stuck on a small island?” She reached around to give him a gentle smack on the back of the head. “I can tell it’s going to be *so* fun being stuck with you as a partner.”

“Hey, no physically abusing the new guy,” Teddy protested as he cowered in mock terror. “The slave labor is bad enough.”

“Oh!” Clarice hopped off of the counter and tossed her empty beer bottle into the recycling bin. “That reminds me – we want some snacks while we’re drinking so run out and get a bunch of chips and some dips for us as well, okay?” She reached into the back pocket of her shorts and pulled out some bills in the local denomination. “We’re fine on the liquor.”

This was his life now? Feared SHIELD agent by day, lackey by night. “Yes, ma’am,” Teddy sighed as he accepted the money.

“Such a good boy,” Clarice cooed before she used her talent to teleport out of the kitchen, probably to the main room where David had set up an entertainment system.

Ah well, all of this running around was giving him a chance to learn the layout of the city, and something to do with his downtime. Teddy figured that while he was out on his errand, he could swing by a certain bookstore again to see if CS had returned….

*******

Tommy tensed when Billy walked into the bedroom a bit after eleven pm – he hadn’t heard a door open so assumed that his brother had teleported into their rooms from wherever he’d been. Since he was still dressed in the same outfit from earlier, Tommy assumed that he hadn’t gone too far away or gotten into any trouble.

“Hey,” he offered as he glanced up from his phone.

Billy gave him a frown, yet when nothing else was said and he noticed the stacked packs of chocolate pudding on his bed, the expression smoothed out. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yeah, I did.” Tommy lowered his phone long enough to give his brother a smile. “Look, being locked up is making me an idiot.” At Billy’s incredulous expression, he rolled his eyes. “More of an idiot, are you happy? Jerk,” he muttered while Billy cracked a smile. “I’ll try to stop cock-blocking you and being all paranoid – I’ll leave that to our dear uncle.”

“Gee, thanks…I think.” Still, Billy kept smiling as he picked up the pudding and put it on the desk before heading off to the bathroom to presumably get ready for bed.

Settled on his own bed with a large bottle of energy drink to his left, a bag of crisps to his right and his phone fully charged, Tommy was already prepared for the night. He pretended to barely pay Billy any attention when his brother finally came out of the bathroom and crawled into the other bed while wearing a pair of red boxers and a purple t-shirt bearing a ‘nyan-cat’ of all things - *such* a geek. How were they even related?

“Are you going to play that all night or what?”

“Eh?” Tommy blinked a few times as if distracted and then shrugged. “I’m really kicking ass here, CC, come on,” he whined.

“Oh for-“ Billy punched at his pillow before he yanked his blankets nearly over his head. “Keep the volume down or else your phone’s going to be turned into a bat – the blood-sucking type,” he grumbled as he fussed a little more with his pillow. “I’m beginning to remember why I like you out drinking your brain cells into goop.”

“My brain cells are perfectly fine, or else I wouldn’t be on level 83 by now,” Tommy shot back, but quietly since there seemed to be a faint blue glow emanating from beneath the blankets on Billy’s bed. After a minute or two of silence, Billy let out a soft ‘huff’ and rolled over onto his other side and eventually his breathing slowed.

Munching on a few crisps while he waited for his brother to fall asleep, Tommy wondered how long it would take for Billy to have one of his ‘dreams’ – or were they more along the lines of a nightmare? At that time, Tommy would be prepared, would capture the weird shit on his phone and then snap Billy out of it – hopefully without getting thrown across the room or frozen or anything else detrimental to his stunning good looks and razor sharp wit – and the hyped-up idiot would have to face the fact that something was going on here, that something wasn’t right with all of this glowing and warping and… and….

Tommy sighed as he drained the rest of the energy drink. Okay, maybe it wasn’t one of his best plans, but it was *something*. Even if he didn’t convince Billy right away, he’d have something to prove to Uncle Pietro and Grandfather, and then *they* could figure out what was wrong with Billy. He hated feeling as if he was ratting on his baby brother, but that whole thing with the ice had been freaky as hell and then to see Billy seem to shift them to another reality without even realizing it….

A quick glance at Billy revealed that he still appeared to be sleeping peacefully, so Tommy resumed playing his game. He’d just cleared another level when the screen began to grow blurry in front of him, the colors of the squares blending into one another and his fingers missing their targets as… as….

<So *you’re* the little pest, are you?>

Cold. It was so *cold*. Hadn’t Tommy been somewhere warm moments before? He spun around to attempt to orient himself but all he saw was the same desolate landscape, saw only the glimmer of ice beneath the barren, twilight sky. Tommy’s teeth chattered as he rubbed his hands over his arms and vibrated his body in a desperate attempt to generate some heat. “What? Is someone there?” Had he heard a voice? “Come out, asshole.”

<Hmm, not as polite as your brother.>

He couldn’t see anyone even though he could clearly hear them, a voice rich with contempt and as pompous as Uncle Pietro on a good day. Tommy dashed about in a frantic manner, clouds of sharp ice biting into his legs as he ran, but he never saw anything but the same damn icy landscape.

<Not as smart, either. You’re not going to find me that way.> Something seemed to slam into Tommy and made him stop, the pain as intense as the cold all around him, causing him to gasp and shudder even as he was held upright. <Now stay still for this – I detest seeing you dart around like some demented rabbit.>

“Fuck off, you-“

<Ah, ah, manners.>

Pain tore through Tommy, through his entire body but it was worse, so much worse in his head. He would cry out if he could move, if he could do *anything*, but the awful, terrible cold held him still, held him helpless and that was the worst part of it all…

<I’d say that I wasn’t enjoying this, but I’d be lying. Hmm, hm, just a little longer now. Must make sure I get it all out, that you’ll be a good boy from now on. I don’t appreciate meddlers, do you *understand*?>

Maybe Tommy was supposed to say something, to respond, but all he could do just then was rail against the pain as it washed over him, the awful paleness of the winter world replaced with darkness….

“-sleep forever? Come on, this is bad, even for you.”

“Huh?” Tommy swatted at something that crinkled as he forced himself awake, and found an empty crisp packet stuck to his face – that and Billy standing by his bed with his phone out. Had that been a flash. “Did you take a pic, you bastard?”

“Several – Mother is going to be so proud.” Before Tommy could summon the energy to charge out of bed, Billy’s phone vanished in a flash of blue sparks. “Don’t even think it,” Billy warned as a hint of blue lurked in his brown eyes.

“You… are pure *evil*,” Tommy groaned as he tried to lift himself from the bed but gave up after a couple of seconds to bury his face into his pillow. Just how late had he stayed up last night? “It’s like they say – never trust the quiet ones.”

“Maybe you still have a few brain cells left after all.” Billy was quiet for a moment and then there was the wonderful, sweet, *beautiful* aroma of coffee. “Here, maybe this will help.”

Tommy managed to lift his head enough to find out that his brother was holding a very large cup of… Starbucks? “You got me Starbucks?” It smelled to be pure expresso, at that. “OhmygodyouarethemostperfectdweebtoeverliveIloveyou!” He snatched at the cup and sat on his bed with his legs crossed as he drained it down as fast as possible, never mind his poor tongue. The caffeine was the perfect remedy for his headache and helped clear the fog from his brain.

“Thank you, I think.” Billy smiled at his antics and shook his head. “Did you sneak out last night and raid a bar or something? You’re really out of it this morning.”

Tommy belched as he tossed aside the empty cup. “Nah, just didn’t go to sleep until I spanked that game but good.”

“Ew.” Billy’s face wrinkled in disgust and he folded his arms over his chest; he was dressed for another fun day stuck in the palace, in black trousers and a light blue shirt that were understated enough to mean big time designer. The way he frowned at Tommy’s rumpled state set off warning bells in Tommy’s head.

“Uhm… I think I’m gonna head out for a bite to-“ However, before Tommy could speed on out of there, Billy waved his hand and ‘froze’ him in place with a blue glow.

“Nope, you’re joining me for breakfast with Mother – well, more like brunch at this point. She knows you’re here and she misses you.” There was an unusual amount of command in Billy’s voice, a cadence that was oddly simila-

A spike of pain shot through Tommy’s head, a sensation that he attempted to shake free as he whined in annoyance. “Dammit, CC, being the good twin is *your* thing. So let me go and-“

“No. It’s not like you have anything better to do,” Billy pointed out as he floated Tommy off of the bed and toward the bathroom. “Besides, think of how much it’ll annoy Uncle Pietro.”

Struggling against his magical bounds until then, Tommy stopped and considered that little fact. Huh, it *would* annoy the old fart, the two of them hanging out with their mother, and she always did have good food for them. “All right – I can wash myself you know!”

“Right, that’s why you always bathe in so much of that lousy cologne,” Billy grumbled as he released his magic. “We’re leaving in ten minutes,” he warned.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s plenty of time.” Tommy gave his brother the two fingered salute before he slammed the bathroom door shut closed. Sheesh, someone was being a bit bossy today, and heavy-handed with his power. For a moment there was another flash of pain in his head, something to do with… with…. Ah hell, maybe he *was* drinking too much and staying up too late. Might be a good idea to take it easy for a few days and give those ‘brain cells’ that Billy was always whining about a rest.

*******

“Where to, Miss Bishop?”

“The Four Seasons,” Kate told the driver she’d arranged to pick her up at the Hammer Bay International Airport, and slid into the waiting car as soon as he nodded in acknowledgement. She checked her phone while he piled the luggage into the Mercedes sedan’s trunk, flicking through the voice to text messages that Tommy, Cassie and her sister had left; it wasn’t much of a surprise that there weren’t any from her father, but she expected it to be at least a few more days before he figured out that she wasn’t in England anymore.

Cassie was about to leave New York City and should be arriving tomorrow, and Susan basically wished her a safe time in Genosha and sent along a shopping list. Kate had to smile at her sister’s behavior, grateful that there was at least one family member who cared about and supported her, and made a mental promise to track down everything on the list and then some. As for the messages from Tommy… for all of their mostly petulant air, she had to wonder if something was going on – hadn’t he said something about his brother on their last phone call? She didn’t know too much about William Magnus, but then again, neither did anyone else.

King Eric Magnus was very protective of his family, especially anything that had to do with his human daughter, Wanda. Kate had been shocked to discover that the cocky, carefree young man drinking and partying in some tiny club she’d snuck off to one night while visiting Genosha with her father was the very same Prince Thomas she was introduced to the following evening at a formal dinner. When the idiot had the bright idea to attempt to blackmail her to keep her quiet, she’d verbally ripped him a new one, and been surprised again when he started laughing and actually apologized to her. Tommy’s uncle and grandfather might have the arrogant act down pat, but Tommy… Tommy was something else. It was the only reason she’d forgiven the idiot and given him a second chance.

It was also the only reason she probably knew more about ‘Thomas Magnus’ than anyone outside of the Genosha royal palace, and that wasn’t saying too much. Tommy acted so much like a normal, albeit privileged, person with Kate, but she knew he was still keeping a lot of things secret – and his younger brother was one of them. He would start to talk about William - no, *Billy* - and then change the subject as if catching himself. All that Kate knew for certain was that Billy seemed to be much quieter than Tommy, was a ‘geek’, and didn’t like girls.

So what sort of trouble could a quiet, geeky young man get into? Kate tapped her phone against her chin and debated if she should spoil the surprise and call Tommy now or not, when she had thought to let him stew for a bit longer and maybe call tomorrow.

At the least, she’d wait until she checked into the hotel, which was in downtown Hammer Bay. The car drove through the city, which was as beautiful as Kate remembered it from her last visit. Palm trees lined the wide, clean streets, and a mutant dressed in a red and black uniform used some sort of fire talent to clear the little bit of debris that littered the sidewalk. He nodded to a young couple who were walking past, who nodded back in return. Everywhere Kate looked there were signs of humans and mutants co-existing peacefully, of people using their talents for the benefit of those around them and no one reacting at all except in mild appreciation. There was an acceptance here that was lacking in New York City and even London, despite those cities being much bigger and more ‘urbane’. No signs of protests, of unrest or unnecessary display of talents, just people going about their lives using the gifts they’d been given, be they human or mutant.

It was almost too good to be true, and Kate could understand why she caught the occasional glimpse of sentinels in their black and red uniforms. The House of Magnus had made it very clear that the peace of Genosha was not to be disturbed at *any* price and had their personal guard ready in case there was a need. They were the steel-taloned hawks guarding the all of these doves, ever vigilant.

Wondering if the jetlag was shading her thoughts a bit dark, Kate rubbed her eyes and felt some relief when the car pulled up to the hotel. “We’ve arrived, Miss.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at the driver and felt a bit bad that she’d forgotten his name in the fugue of traveling. Wasn’t it Abidemi?

He opened the door for her and motioned her inside. “I’ll handle the bags for you,” he told her as someone dressed in the hotel’s livery approached. “You look as if you could use some rest.”

“Thank you again.” She rested her hand on his arm and gave him a wan smile. “You’ve done an excellent job, Mr. Abidemi.”

Judging from his smile, she had remembered correctly and now she felt a bit better. Turning to the young woman with slightly pebbled green skin, she allowed herself to be led into the hotel and checked in right away, a courtesy that she was certain was due to her last name and father’s money. Ah well, it got her to one of the penthouse suites in a matter of minutes, which was the most important thing. While she waited for her luggage to arrive, she pulled out her phone from her purse and surveyed her current living quarters.

Tommy answered on the second ring, which showed that yes, he had been expecting her call. “Kate! Where have you been? I’ve called like six times!”

“I know, I’ve all of your messages and even a few texts.” She figured the smaller of the two bedrooms would be suitable for Cassie if her friend wanted to spend some nights over, and went out on the balcony in the bedroom where she’d be sleeping. “I’ve been busy.”

“Doing what?” Tommy sounded more than a little annoyed. “How is picking out wallpaper so hard that you have to take a break from it? Do you have any idea what *I’ve* been doing?” He didn’t even give her a chance to answer. “Having *tea*. With my mother.” He made it sound like the worst thing imaginable.

“T, I happen to know you adore your mother, so quit with the dramatics.” Oh, nice, she could see the ocean from here. Kate took in a deep breath and smiled, enjoying the feel of wind on her face even if it did wreck havoc with her hair. “So you had to spend time with someone who loves you. Poor you.” A hint of bitterness crept into her voice just then despite her attempt at teasing.

Tommy was quiet for a moment and then he laughed. “You sound just like Billy just then, you know. ‘Oh poor PJ, you have to visit the woman who gave you birth and who adores you, life is hard’. He’s the jerk who te- dragged me there.”

Kate had the impression that she would like Billy, if she ever met him. “Good for him.” Her smile returned when she hear Tommy sputter on the other end of the phone. “So what else has been happening other than your evil twin making you spend time with your poor mother, eh?”

“Uhm….” The line went quiet for a minute. “Well, there was this thing with Billy and a pushy guy, and we sorta got in a fight about that. But I think we’re good now. Other than that… not much.” Tommy sounded a little… off for some reason, maybe because he was talking about his brother and didn’t want to go into too much detail with an outsider. Yet why had he called Kate so much?

Feeling a bit confused, Kate tucked back a lock of hair that kept blowing into her eyes and frowned. “So that’s it, you two fought a little but are okay now, and he dragged you off to visit your mom?”

“Yep.” Tommy was quiet again for several seconds, and when he next spoke he sounded normal. “But what about you? What’s going on there? You get in a fight over some chintz and end up in jail or something? And when am I getting my gift, Princess?”

“Oh, I don’t know if you deserve it now after being such a smart ass.” When Tommy began to wail that he was sorry and that she didn’t have to be so mean to him, Kate chuckled as she headed back into her room. “If you must know, the reason I put all that decorating on hold is because I had to leave to help out a friend.”

“Eh? You’re not in London anymore? Where are you? Back in the States?”

“Nope, somewhere closer.” Kate noticed that her luggage had arrived and went to give the man some money for his trouble.

It sounded as if Tommy was pounding on something on the other end of the line. “Where’s that? Monaco? I can be there in like five minutes – that is, once I get around Grandfather. What hotel are you at?”

This was going to be fun. “The Four Seasons here in Hammer Bay.”

Tommy began to repeat it as if to memorize the location. “The Four Seasons- what?” There was a loud thud as if he dropped his phone, followed by muffled yelps. “You’re here?”

Kate had moved her phone away from her ear at that point so the shriek wasn’t quite too piercing, and shouted back ‘yes’ just to be on the safe side. She thought she heard “Billy, get your ass here,” before the line went dead.

Taking that to mean that she’d have company very soon, she chided herself for not jumping in the shower *before* she called the hyperactive idiot.

*******

Billy watched with some bemusement as Tommy charged out of their room through the new French doors, leaving him behind in the mess from his brother’s frantic effort to dress ‘properly’. This ‘Kate’ must be something special indeed for Tommy to put so much effort into his appearance, and for him to care if even Grandfather noticed that he’d left the palace grounds or not; he’d constantly bugged Billy to make sure that the spell to fool Caliban would hold up while Tommy was gone.

Between a pleasant visit with their very content mother and now being rid of his brother for what was probably the rest of the day, Billy was happy. He could catch up on his tv shows without his brother harping on how ‘gay’ or ‘geeky’ they were, or so do some reading in peace… or he could follow Tommy’s lead and make his escape as well. What were the chances that the hot blond guy, Teddy, might turn up at Pierson’s again?

Taking a moment to restore order back to the bedroom, Billy almost turned his power on to his own outfit after that before he thought about what Tommy had said the day before; he was using his magic an awful lot for trivial things, wasn’t he? Was that a bad thing or good? Letting the magic settle for the moment, he decided that he’d dress ‘normally’ for once and went over to his walk-in closet to select something to wear for today’s outing while he puzzled out his thoughts. His family used their powers as an extension of themselves, he’d grown up seeing Uncle Pietro speeding about as often as walking, and everyone had expected Billy to have a similar magnetic ability to his grandfather and aunt after Tommy had taken after their uncle. So was it such a bad thing that he used his magic so freely now that he seemed over whatever block he’d had with it that prevented him from using it so easily?

His right hand hovered between a sweater as blue as the glow his talent emitted and his favorite red hoodie. He remembered his mother’s words yesterday, her assurance that he would always know what to do with his power. That faith helped to ground him and bank his fears. It was probably just like DV had said – the others were used to him being quiet, dull little Billy who needed them for everything. It wasn’t so much that he was changing, it was just that he could stand on his own now, that they needed *him* for things. Well, that they needed his power.

Tugging the hoodie free from its hanger, Billy pulled it on over his blue dress shirt and then changed his dress slacks for a pair of worn jeans. After grabbing his wallet and a pair of sneakers to complete his outfit, all that was needed was a moment of concentration to cast a spell to both fool Caliban’s talent and discourage anyone from checking in on him or Tommy before he teleported to the alley near Pierson’s.

He remembered in time to cast a slight illusion spell to disguise his features, just enough to alter the color of his hair and eyes a little along with a bit of mental coercion to convince people that he really wasn’t Prince William. Once that was done, he left the alley and strolled into Pierson’s as if this was something he did every day, as if he wasn’t filled with anxiety and his palms were already damp from nerves. Nothing will go wrong, he told himself. No one is staring at you. Grow a spine, you friggen dweeb. Okay, that last bit sounded much too much like Tommy for his comfort, he thought as he tugged the hood of his shirt up over his head.

Pierson’s was busy with the afternoon crowd, people milling about as they got their afternoon fix of caffeine and sugar while browsing for new music and books. Billy joined the crowd in the music section for a little bit, disappointed that he didn’t notice any tall blonds with the gleam of silver in their ears, and listened to a few tracks of various albums. After finding a few things he’d buy online later, he went over to the books section to grab the items he’d been eyeing before Tommy had dragged him out of the store.

He’d managed to locate about three of the books when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. Worried that he was blocking the person from a section that they wanted to browse, he hurried to step to the side. “I-I’m sorry!”

“Well, you did leave in a hurry yesterday, but I don’t think that was your idea. Either way, apology accepted.”

Billy looked up to find Teddy smiling at him. Today he was dressed in loose jeans and grey t-shirt that hugged his chest just right, and Billy felt a faint blush on his cheeks when he realized that he was staring. “A-apology?” Kill him now, was he stuttering?

“Yeah, for leaving me like that.” Teddy laughed a little and rubbed at the back of his head, where his blond hair was cut short. “Uhm, sorry, that’s not funny, is it?” He was blushing a little, too.

Billy at first nodded and then shook his head, feeling utterly confused at the moment. “I think… uhm, hi?” He waved his free hand a couple of times as he attempted to get his idiot brain to work.

“Yeah, good idea, let’s just start over.” What appeared to be relief washed over Teddy’s handsome face. “Hi, I’m Teddy.” He waved as well and seemed to wait for something.

Billy shifted his weight back and forth for a few second before realization hit him. “Oh! I’m Billy.” He laughed a little in embarrassment and jerked his left hand through his hair, which caused the hood to fall back onto his shoulders. “Sorry about that.” He ducked his head as he shook it. “I suck at this,” he murmured. Why couldn’t he have some of Tommy’s confidence? His brother would be chatting away a mile a minute by now, not making an utter fool of himself. Maybe he should just walk away….

Somehow, Teddy seemed to hear that and laughed, but it didn’t sound mocking, it was a little nervous if anything. “I don’t know, you seem okay to me. Maybe some coffee will help?” Billy glanced up to see a hopeful expression on the other boy’s face. “I hear it’s a great icebreaker.”

A slight smile spread across Billy’s face. “Well, you’re in luck then, since they have great coffee here.” Perhaps things weren’t going too badly after all?

“I take that as a yes, then.” Teddy smiled as well and motioned for Billy to join him. “It’ll be my treat since you helped me out yesterday.” When Billy fell in step beside him, his smile strengthened and he gestured to the books tucked into the crook of Billy’s right arm. “So, what are you getting? That’s the new book in the All for the Game series?”

Pleased for once to be talking to someone who actually seemed to be interested in his hobbies and not to just mock them, Billy grinned and felt himself relax as he began to talk about books.

*******

Clarice was painting her toenails a bubblegum pink color when there was a knock at the door of the room she shared with Hisako. “I’m decent, more or less.”

“I’ll take my chances,” Sam answered with that sexy drawl of his and entered, still dressed in his uniform.

“Oooh, if I knew it was you, sir, I’d be wearing a lot less clothes.” Clarice capped the bottle of polish and batted her eyes at her senior office, only half teasing – damn SHEILD and their anti-fraternization rules during missions. Well, anti-fraternization for the poor schlubs at her rank….

Still, Sam gave her enough of a saucy smile to make her regret the fact that she was wearing a pair of yoga pants and an old t-shirt. “Maybe another time, but right now I need to talk to you about something.” All traces of flirtation left him and he was once more the cold, efficient leader she knew him to be during a mission. “How is Agent Altman holding up?”

“Teddy?” She set the polish aside and frowned as she mentally readied the report she’d kept ‘filed’ in her head. “He’s done well on his last two shifts, been focused on the task of guard duty and obeys orders well. He also is taking the slight bit of hazing in a good spirit and is doing his best to fit in. I think he’ll be a benefit to this assignment, sir.”

Sam appeared to consider what she’d said for a moment and then nodded. “Thank you. Continue to keep an eye on him and let me know if he has any difficulties, with *anything*,” he stressed.

Clarice found that a little odd and couldn’t help but comment. “Sir… is something going on? Is he in some trouble?” She understood how a new agent could be a weak link during a mission, but so far this was just a routine guard duty post, except for the fact that they were in Genosha.

It looked as if Sam was debating something for a few seconds, and then he finally nodded as if coming to a decision. “You are not to repeat this to anyone, Agent Ferguson, but the truth is our mission here is two-fold. We are to protect Dr. Wisdom-Pryde and her work, but we will also be receiving a new set of instructions at a further date.” Before Clarice could ask another question, Sam held up his gloved right hand. “And no, I don’t know what those secondary instructions are, I’ve just been told that Agent Altman will play an important role in them, so keep an eye on him, all right?”

“Understood, sir.” Clarice watched as Sam left the room, then chewed on her bottom lip as she resumed painting her toenails. Sam must be concerned about the secondary mission to bring her in on it like that, and it explained why he was being a bit tough on poor Teddy like that. She’d have to keep a closer watch on the kid to make sure the stress of the new assignment wasn’t getting to him, since he was more important to the mission than she’d thought; she wasn’t going to allow anything or anyone to impact her career.

It had been curious, them sending a newbie like Teddy on a mission like this – it was Genosha after all, and while it was a babysitting job, they couldn’t chance anything that might offend the royal family. Clarice didn’t know what the secondary mission was, but she bet that it required the need for a shape shifter. A very talented shape shifter at that. Things were about to get interesting on a routine babysitting job, yes indeed.

*******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, feels like we're beginning to get all the main characters onto the scene now and the main plot rolling. I should probably update the tags at some point...  
> No beta for the fic, so hopefully there aren't too many mistakes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Hopefully it's worth it and all. Thanks so much for all the kudos and for the comments left on the story so far, it helps me to keep working on the scenes for CB between other stuff and want to get each new chapter wrapped up and posted.

*******

Okay, this was so not good, relatively speaking. Half an hour into – well, could they call this a date? Teddy was so calling this a date, which was part of the problem here; he’d been out with a few other guys, nothing too serious, but Billy…. First, there was the constant fidgeting which could be really annoying but was actually endearing for some reason, maybe because Billy didn’t seem to notice how his hands would move from toying with his hair to tweaking with the hem of his red hoodie to spinning his cup of iced mocha around to tapping against the table-top to back to playing with his very tousled dark brown hair and – there was also the slight blushes whenever his brown eyes met Teddy’s, which was *adorable*. Because after Greg – because after the *asshole*, as he was now going to be known in Teddy’s mind, it was nice to know he wasn’t falling for another idiot who didn’t have a single bit of attraction to him. Oh yeah, there was also the fact that Billy was sexy as hell, in a refreshing, unique way. The longer they sat here and talked, the more Teddy wanted to get to know the other boy.

“Anyway, so yeah, that’s why I believe that all sparkly vampires should be destroyed on sight,” Billy finished up as he fidgeted a little more in his seat.

“Oh, you’re preaching to the choir there, though I’ve nothing against a bunch of cute werewolves running around shirtless,” Teddy teased, just to wring another blush from Billy. “Now that we’ve established that we’re compatible on the vampire front, which is a must, let’s talk about pizza.” He smiled as Billy grasped his now empty plastic coffee cup and leaned forward, as if in a conspiratorial mode. “Thin crust or thick?”

“Oooh, thin crust, definitely,” Billy replied as he narrowed his eyes. “If you say thick, then we leave here as mortal enemies. That’s even worse than sparkly vampires, I’ll have you know.”

Teddy was quiet for a moment to draw out the suspense, and then he grinned. “Well, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful… friendship, because thick crust is definitely out.” He laughed as Billy did a little fist pump in the air with his left hand. “Though I’ve gotten some complaints from my friends as I’m stuck on food runs most of the time, but if they make me pick it up, then I’m going to decide the crust.”

“Heathens,” Billy hissed as he scrunched up his nose. Oh yeah, utterly adorable, Teddy thought as he found himself wishing he could take a picture just then. As it was, he memorized the image, certain that he’d be staring back at it in a mirror later on just so he could enjoy it some more. “Where have you been getting them?”

“Huh?” Teddy stared at Billy in confusion, momentarily derailed in the conversation.

“The pizzas, where have you been getting them?” Billy didn’t seem too upset by his lack of focus, if anything he seemed used to people not following him, Teddy had noticed during their conversation so far.

“Ah, all over the place – Portos, Pizza Loco, Toppers, uhm…”

Billy scrunched his nose some more and shook his head. “Sounds like you’re going everywhere but the one place you should, which is Mineo’s.” He waited to see if Teddy recognized the place and shook his head some more. “Like I said, *heathens*. It’s just the best pizza place on the island, if not the southern hemisphere. Give me your phone.” He held out his right hand in a rather imperious way, as if expecting to be obeyed without question.

A little bemused by how bossy his date could be in regards to the right topic, Teddy did as he was told, and noticed how Billy’s eyes lit up when he recognized the Totoro cover case on it. “Yeah, that was a gift from my mom.”

“She’s a woman of excellent taste,” Billy remarked as he began to swipe through and tap on the screens. After about a minute, he handed the phone back to Teddy. “Here’s Mineo’s, hopefully it’s not too far from where you live.”

Teddy examined the site for the restaurant and found that it had a lot of five star reviews, and wondered how he’d missed it before. True, it was a little farther than he usually went for pizza, in fact was just a few blocks from the royal palace, but judging from the reviews it would be worth the effort. “I’ll give it a try next time.”

“A wise choice.” Billy leaned back in his chair with his arms folded across his chest and an inscrutable expression on his face.

“So tell me, oh learned scholar of the fast food, what other good places are there? For sushi? Coffee? Comic books?” Teddy gave him a teasing grin as he propped his chin up on his left hand and leaned over the table. “I am your eager student.”

“Hmm.” Billy flipped his hood over his head and pressed the tips of his fingers together in front of his nose while he closed his eyes as if meditating; it was so… so *nice* to find someone willing to play along with Teddy, who didn’t find this weird, let alone someone he’d just met. “Let me consult with the great aether to see what it advises.” Billy made an eerie humming noise for a few seconds, which earned them some annoyed glances from the surrounding tables. “The great aether has spoken.” He opened his eyes and spread out his hands in a waving gesture, a hint of a grin hovering on his lips. “For comics, you need to go to The Attic.”

“Wait a moment, I’m getting this all down,” Teddy told him as he made notes for himself so he could google these places later. “Okay, continue, oh learned scholar.”

Billy’s lips quirked a little more while his hands took to twisting in the hem of his hoodie. “For sushi, the aether was divided – Rollo’s has some amazing rolls but they’re not very traditional, while you can always count on some fantastic sashimi from Shinju. And as for coffee, obviously you’re off to a great start here, but there’s also Nico’s on Tenth Street.”

Teddy nodded to show that he was following all of this. “That the shop that has the weird plants in the window? I wasn’t sure if they were selling coffee or it was an illegal front in there, to be honest.”

That startled a laugh out of Billy as he gave up on his ‘sage teacher’ front and started to play with his cup again. “No, the owner just has a thing about plants – he makes things grow, apparently. On a really good day, flowers bloom all over the place. He also does these amazing tea blends.”

“Okay, then I’ll give it a try.” Maybe Teddy would see about sending some tea home to his mother. “So I take it you’re a native, huh? You seem to know these places really well.”

The question made Billy duck his head, the voluminous red hood falling forward to hide his face from view. “Yeah… I grew up here. My… my family’s been here since… well, since Genosha’s been founded.”

“Wow, that’s impressive.” So that probably meant that Billy was a mutant, or at least from a family of mutants. Teddy almost asked what his talent was, but wondered if that was a little personal since Billy hadn’t displayed any powers yet – plus, Teddy didn’t want to do a ‘I’ll show you mine if you show me yours’. Part of the reason he’d kept the fact that he was a mutant hidden so long was that it usually freaked people out when they found out that he could change into, well, *anything* or *anyone*, that or they thought up ways to use it to their advantage, like the ‘asshole’.

“Yeah.” When Teddy didn’t say anything else, Billy peeked past the edge of his hood and then smiled, just a little, before lifting his head. “So if you, uhm, need any more advice on where to go, or, ah, need any help….” His voice faded away as he spoke and he took to fidgeting again, that faint blush making a return to his cheeks.

It was an incredibly roundabout way to do it, but Teddy was rather certain that he was being asked out. Doing his best to not smile too much, he held up his phone as he nodded. “That would be really great if you could show me around – work is pretty steady so I have most of my nights free.”

Billy began to chew on a thumbnail as if considering something. “I should be able to meet up then,” he agreed after a few seconds’ pause.

“Then why don’t you give me your number so I can call you?”

The faint blush became much stronger and Billy ducked his head again as he mumbled something.

“Ah, what was that?” Teddy leaned over the table some more so he could try to make sense of what the other boy was saying. “Something about my phone?”

“I, ah, already gave it to you.” Billy looked ready to tear a hole in his poor hoodie, he was twisting it so hard. “Uhm, earlier….”

It took a moment for Teddy to make sense of that, and then he realized that Billy must have slipped in his number when he was looking up the pizza place. Flicking on his phone, he searched through his contacts and sure enough, there was a new one under ‘B’. A sense of warmth filled him and he couldn’t help but grin like an idiot. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” Billy seemed to be glancing around at everything but Teddy just then. “I just….” He waved his right hand around a few times and didn’t say anything else.

“No, it’s fine!” Teddy continued to grin as he motioned toward Billy. “Why don’t you give me your phone so we can exchange numbers, okay?”

The question seemed to surprise Billy as he finally looked at Teddy and blinked a few times. “Oh.” He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment and then shook his head. “I, uhm, didn’t bring my phone with me.”

That seemed a bit odd, but maybe he forgot it or something. “Okay, I guess I’ll just text you a message and you can respond later, how about that?” Teddy began typing on his phone to Billy’s number. “Just so you know, it’s the message about how it’s your turn to buy coffee on our next date.”

Billy’s cheeks turned a brilliant red as he began to tug his hoodie forward enough to hide his face. “Ah, yeah, coffee. Date. That’s… that’s good.” He gazed downward for a moment at his hands twisting in the now stretched material before he peeked upward. “You really want to go out again?”

Teddy felt a little bashful himself as he reached over to nudge the tip of Billy’s hood aside with his phone. “I sorta thought that was the point of wooing you with coffee and asking about you showing me around,” he admitted.

He didn’t think it was possible for a human being to blush any more than Billy was doing at the moment, yet the smile directed Teddy’s way just then was one of the most beautiful ones he’d ever seen. “’Wooing’?” Billy gave up on torturing his poor shirt to reach for his empty cup of coffee, which he held up for a moment. “With this?”

Teddy chuckled a little as he rested his elbows on the table and propped his chin up on his left hand. “Well, I didn’t have a horde of jewels or a magical ring on hand, sorry to say, so yes, wooing with coffee. Good coffee at that.”

“I am duly impressed with your improvisation skills.” Billy bowed his head a little as if bestowing a great honor upon Teddy. “So I guess I’m obligated to ‘woo’ in return, no?”

“Hmm, that or it’s a sword duel at dawn.” Teddy waved his right hand about in a swooshing manner. “I warn you now, I kick ass in WOW with my warrior character,” he insisted as he fixed the other boy with an intimidating stare.

For some reason, however, Billy refused to be intimidated. “Puhlease, mages rule, but I guess we don’t want to be breaking any etiquette rules.” He pushed his empty cup aside as he stood up. “So you’ll let me know when you’re free next?”

“Yes!” Teddy scrambled to stand up, too. “I think I can meet up tomorrow, but I’ll let you know for sure.”

“Okay.” Billy picked up his bag of books and looked uncertain for a moment. “I, ah, have to go home – there’s… stuff going on with my family.”

“That’s fine, I should probably head back and see what my friends want to do for dinner.” Teddy hesitated for a moment before he stepped forward to give Billy a brief hug; it felt weird to shake hands yet he didn’t want to just wave goodbye. “Tomorrow, okay?”

At first he thought that maybe he’d gone too far, yet the pink was back on Billy’s cheeks along with a shy smile as the boy nodded. “Yeah, see you then.” He tugged the hood down a little further before he turned around to leave.

Feeling as if he’d just won some sort of prize, Teddy couldn’t stop grinning as he picked up the empty cups and placed them in the trash, then went to leave as well. He thought that maybe he’d catch sight of Billy because of his distinctive red shirt, but didn’t see the other boy anywhere in the store or out on the street. Wondering if maybe he’d flagged down a taxi or been picked up by someone, Teddy hoped that Billy got home all right and began to think about what they could do tomorrow on their first proper date – and what he’d probably have to owe Clarice to ensure that he could have the night free to himself.

*******

 

Pietro slowed down as he approached the small wrought iron gate to his sister’s garden, the canister of tea tucked into the crook of his left arm. For some reason he felt nervous, so he ran a hand through his hair and tugged at the hem of his dark grey vest. Should he have put on his coat? Wanda hated too much formality, but-

“Stop hovering at my gate, either come in or go away.”

Smiling at the annoyance in his sister’s voice, Pietro pushed on the latch and opened the gate, and made sure it shut behind him. “Who dares to speak to the crown prince in such a manner?” he asked in the most imperious tone he could summon.

“The woman who will box his ears if he steps on her daylilies, like he did the last time.”

Laughter rumbled inside of his chest and burst forth as Pietro – mindful of those damn flowers – rushed forward and circled around his sister a few times before snatching her up in his arms. Her lovely tumble of curls and the voluminous skirt of her red dress flared out for a moment as she spun with him, her laughter a higher note than his own, and he only allowed himself this joy for a moment before he set her back down on the ground; there was a hint of shadows around her shining brown eyes and a tremble in the hand that rested on his shoulder. “The boys were here earlier, weren’t they,” he accused as he stepped back.

“And a good day to you, too." Wanda blew at a lock of curls that had fallen onto her nose and shook her head. “Yes, they were, and I was so happy to see them.” She began to walk away, toward the small table set out in the garden. “I asked William to bring Thomas by for a visit, so don’t you go blaming either of them.”

Pietro clenched his hands in anger for a moment before he forced the emotion aside; he should have known having the boys here would mean that they would be seeing their mother more often – William was by often enough as it was, but at least she was spared both of their presences while Thomas was out being a drunken fool. “And how was it? Oh, I stopped by to pick you up more tea.” He held up the tin he’d gone all the way to Istanbul for as he approached the table as well.

A slight smile flittered across Wanda’s face as she sat down in one of the chairs. “Thank you. Would you like some?” She looked around as if to summon the girl who attended to her needs.

“No, that’s fine. I really just came to see how you are.” He sat across from her and reached for her left hand, which he held cradled in his own. “They didn’t wear you out, did they?”

Wanda shook her head but didn’t pull her hand away. “Pietro, you worry too much. No, they didn’t, they left before I could grow too tired.” She sighed a little and propped her chin up on her right hand, for a moment looking so much like the young girl who used to tease Pietro about how if he continued to be so serious and brooding he’d turn into their father one day. Well, to be honest, she still did that a lot…. “They just stopped by for something to eat and for me to fuss over them, and it made me happy. It’s not often that I have my boys here with me.”

“No, but William is by often enough these days.” All Pietro had to do to see evidence of that was to look around, to *inhale*; the unnatural flowers had made their home in his sister’s garden, had become intertwined with her beloved flowers.

There was a hint of steel to his sister’s brown eyes, a hardness that anyone familiar with their father would recognize in an instant. “Yes, and he is more than welcome here.” Wanda’s hand turned in Pietro’s until her fingers tightened against his own. “He used to come here exhausted and seeking solace, a place where he could rest before returning to his rooms. Now he comes for reassurance, for… I think he wants to know that there will always be someone who will accept him, who will accept what he’s becoming and what’s inside of him.” It wasn’t often that Wanda revealed that she was a true child of the House of Magnus, that even though she wasn’t a mutant that she was a Lehnsherr through and through, but right now as she sat there and stared at Pietro with an iciness that would do their father proud; he couldn’t think of anything but how magnificent she was, and how powerful she could have been if only… if only. “What are you doing to him, Pietro? What are you *and* Father doing to him?”

“We aren’t doing anything-“

“No!” Outbursts of anger were rare from his sister, and out of the corner of his eye Pietro saw the servant girl, Rahne, dart forward from the location of palace and stop about a dozen steps away. “Don’t lie to me about this, Brother, not about *my* children.” Wanda pressed her other hand against the top of the table and glared at him through the fall of her brown curls. “What are you doing to William?”

“Nothing!” When her nails dug into his hand, Pietro cursed softly but didn’t pull way. “Nothing that I understand, I promise!” He jerked his left hand through his hair and attempted to put his thoughts into order. “You know about his talent, how he makes things – how the world *twists* for him!” His free hand waved at the horrid, beautiful flowers that bloomed alongside the normal roses, lilies and hydrangeas, their perfume so overpowering that he felt lightheaded. “Father has him do things that ensure we’ll be safe, that is all!”

Wanda loosened her hold on his hand as she cast her eyes downward. “So Father uses him.”

“Father uses us all,” Pietro remarked, and couldn’t hold back on all of the bitterness he felt just then. “Only you are free from his machinations.” At least there was something for him to be grateful about, he thought as he rubbed his thumb along the back of his sister’s delicate hand.

A laugh as bitter as Pietro felt just then broke free from Wanda as she once more shook her head. “Free? Oh no, not as long as he has my boys.” She inhaled sharply as if to choke back tears. “And here I sit while he’s tearing poor William apart and driving Thomas away.”

Pietro wanted to argue with her, to deny those words, but part of him wondered if this lovely garden wasn’t so much a sanctuary as a cage to hold her in, to ensure that the boys would never wander too far from Genosha, just as he could never really leave. So much power in their blood, but their hearts certainly were caught, weren’t they? “He’s not tearing William apart, at least not intentionally.”

“Oh really? Then what is happening to my son?”

“I don’t know.” Pietro hated admitting that to his dear sister, to show her any failure, but it was the truth. “I honestly don’t know, but it’s not Father’s fault – if anything, he’s doing his best to protect William. In fact, it’s in part why I came here today. I need you to try to keep the boys close, to make sure they obey Father and don’t go wandering off.” William was a dutiful child in most aspects, but Thomas… well, Thomas certainly was a Lehnsherr.

Wanda pulled her hand free while she gave him a cool, assessing look. “And why should I do such a thing, when you just admitted that Father is using one of my sons?”

“Because there are people out there who would do far worse than make William put his talent to use for the good of our family and country,” Pietro reminded his sister as he did his best to keep his tone civil. “They would do more than ‘ask’ him for his help.” He didn’t want to hurt Wanda, his precious sibling, but there were some truths that one shouldn’t avoid.

She held his gaze for a few more seconds before once more ducking her head. “So I see. I’ll do what I can, but you must realize that too much pressure from any source will only drive Thomas away.”

“He is rather headstrong.” Pietro couldn’t help but feel a sense of affection for the foolish child despite all of the times that Thomas went out of his way to cause trouble.

Wanda’s lips curled in a sly smile as she picked up the tin of rose tea. “They both are – you just fail to notice with William because he’s so quiet, but he’ll surprise you one of these days.”

“Actually, he’s been doing that a lot, lately.” Pietro’s stomach roiled with acid as he gazed about the garden; the new additions were beautiful, but no one would ever mistake them for natural. “I am telling you the truth, drăgălaş, in that we are trying to keep him safe. Have the boy – have them *both* listen to Father for once, all right?” He reached over to caress her cheek with the back of his left hand before he rose from the table, mindful of her frail state. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Goodbye, trâmbă,” Wanda bid him as he strolled through her garden, mindful of the delicate blooms. Once he was outside he put his speed to use and returned to the palace, where he had many duties waiting for his attention. For a moment he debated stopping in on the boys to see if they were getting into any new trouble, but decided to leave them be for the moment; he could always send a servant by later with an invite to dinner.

*******

“Can Ah get you anything, ma’am?”

“No, I’m fine for the moment.” Wanda offered Rahne a reassuring smile to put the poor girl at ease. “I’ll just be a few more minutes before I head inside to rest.”

“All right.” Rahne gave her a slight bow before returning inside, probably to prepare the bed in case Wanda wanted to lie down for a nap.

It had been a trying day so far with all of its visitors, but Wanda didn’t feel as exhausted as she sometimes did after dealing with too many people; she got up and went over to one of the new additions to her garden, a tumble of impossible pink and golden blossoms that were probably meant to be a bramble of honeysuckle yet were a little too round of petals and a little too spicy of scent. For all their oddity, the juice that dripped from their stamen was oh so sweet, and she swore she heard a faint singing sound whenever the wind rustled through their leaves, a humming melody that put her at ease. All of William’s gifts made her happy, made something inside of her feel cherished when she saw them take root and grow in this gilded cage of hers, made it something wild and unpredictable and no longer her father’s land; she had done her best with the seeds she had ordered and the cuttings that Pietro had brought back for her, but it was her own son, *her* blood that had forever altered the soil that her father had claimed.

She licked her fingers clean of the slightly sticky offering and moved on, toward the ‘roses’ and their rainbow hue to admire petals of blue and royal purple and lavender, of air scented with such sweetness that she knew she would be spoiled for any perfume from that moment on. Perhaps she could ask Lorna to have something made from these flowers, since it was clear that Pietro disliked their origin….

She believed her brother when he said that he hadn’t done anything deliberate to hurt William, but the fact remained that something was going on, something was driving her father to push her son to his limits at the same time that he feared for William’s safety. If she went to him and asked him what, she had no doubt that he would give her a kiss on the forehead and tell her not to worry, would treat her like some breakable doll that needed to be kept tucked out of harm’s way and admired from behind afar. No, she would need to ponder upon how to best approach him, to uncover at least what the real threat was against her son since most of her father’s machinations had to do with keeping his family and his people safe.

******  
“You do love your curries, don’t you?” Kate paused in combing through her damp hair to shake her head; she had taken advantage on sending Tommy back to England for something she’d ‘left behind’ to grab a very hasty shower, and it appears he’d decided to pick up some take-out on the way back.

“Eh, I figured since I was swinging through London I might as well hit that one joint you really like.” Tommy finished unpacking the containers from the bag and set what smelled to be some chicken jalfrezi in front of her, along with some jasmine rice. She reached over for a container of mango lassi, and raised an eyebrow at Tommy’s feast of samosa, rojan josh and dalma. At least he’d gotten enough naan that they shouldn’t be fighting over it… she decided to snatch up a couple of pieces now, just to be safe.

“Someone’s certainly a growing boy.”

He paused in shoving the samosa into his mouth with a blinding speed to shrug then reached for one of the remaining three containers of lassi. “Eh, running around makes me hungry, you know that.”

“It’s a good thing your family has money or they’d go broke keeping up with that belly of yours.” She had a bite of chicken and had to admit that yeah, Tommy did know her tastes very well.

He shrugged again and tossed the empty container into the bag. “It’s the least they can do after being such pricks. I mean, come *on*, do they really think that Billy and me can’t take care of ourselves? Okay, maybe not Billy since ‘naive’ doesn’t begin to describe him, but me? I know how to look after myself.”

And now they were back to where they were before she’d sent him on the errand, to ranting about his family and the whole ‘lockdown’ situation. Kate sort of understood it – her father had been after her to employ bodyguards a couple of years ago, before she pointed out that they just made her stand out and got in her way – but she was getting tired of hearing about the subject and not the ‘why’. “You know how to get yourself into trouble.”

Tommy paused in decimating his lamb dish to make a rude noise. “Get in and get out of trouble, thank you.”

“Still, you’re trouble,” she reiterated. “And you’re second in line for the throne, with Billy third until you produce an heir. I can see why they’d want to ensure that you’re safe.”

Nearly finished with his food, Tommy shuddered with what appeared to be exaggerated horror. “Gah, don’t mention the ‘t’ word, okay? Grandfather is going to live forever just to spite us all and to keep barking out orders, wait and see. You gonna finish your food?”

She shook her head as she allowed him to swipe away her barely touched meal. “Still, you know you’re important to Genosha and there’s legitimate reasons for you to be under protection. Quite frankly, I’m surprised that you’ve been allowed this much freedom. You don’t see any other prince quite literally running around-“

“Kate.” The way that Tommy spoke her name, the utter lack of levity to his voice, made her look up from the piece of naan she’d been shredding apart to meet his green eyes. “How many other princes out there can make things explode or run at supersonic speeds? I’m far from helpless, and Billy-“ He cut himself off and shook his head. “We can look after ourselves.”

Whatever was going on, Kate had a growing suspicion that it centered on the other twin with the way that Tommy kept deflecting anything that had to do with Billy. “All right, then. When do I get to meet this ‘fanboy dweeb’ of a brother, eh?”

Tommy blinked a few times, a forkful of chicken jalfrezi halfway to his mouth. “Huh? You want to meet Billy?”

“Yes, since he never was around those two times I was at the palace.” She found it a bit suspicious how the younger twin managed to get out of so many social events yet Tommy, a walking PR disaster, didn’t. “Don’t tell me that you’re embarrassed to be seen with me,” she warned while she gave him a narrowed look.

“No, no!” Tommy waved his fork around and nearly flung the food about in her extravagant suite. “It’s just… he *is* a dweeb, you know. Sure you want to inflict that upon yourself?”

“I’ve survived knowing you these past few months, I think a ‘dweeb’ is moving up in the world.”

Tommy choked on his food and sputtered while glaring at her. “No-not nice, princess,” he informed her once he could breathe.

She gave him a cool look while she finished off her drink. “And you should know me better by now, trouble.”

He huffed a little as he looked away, yet she could tell that he wasn’t really upset. “Fine, I’ll see if I can find some time on CC’s busy social calendar – in-between the constant rearranging of comic books and fangasming over new episodes of zombie shows.”

“I love the boy already.” Kate dumped her empty drink container in the bag as well as she stood up. “Now, give me some time to get ready and then you’re going to take me out for a bit – I’m tired of sitting around and I don’t want to go to sleep just yet.”

A leer came over Tommy’s sharp features as he leaned back on the couch where he was sitting. “Oh, I know some things we can-ow!”

Kate’s right hand stung from smacking the idiot in the head since it was solid bone, but it had been for a worthy cause. “Your family’s right to be concerned, because you’re two seconds away from being assassinated by a straw. Don’t make me do it.” She waggled her finger in front of him when he gave her a dubious look. “I have my ways.”

Tommy pouted as he resettled his hat back on his head. “I know, that’s usually what I like best about you. Don’t take too long,” he whined as he began to clean up the mess from his meal.

“I take however long I take, but I promise it’ll be worth the wait.” She smiled when he sighed at that but didn’t complain; oh yes, he was coming along nicely.

*******

Billy fussed with the collar of his blue shirt and wished for about the thirtieth time that Teddy was with him at the moment, instead of ‘out with a hot babe’ as his texts had indicated. More than a little upset with his brother for ditching him like this – sure, Billy’s spell could cover their absence, but people would start to wonder if they were *never* seen around the palace – Billy none-the-less continued on his way to the ‘informal’ dining room where he’d be joining his grandfather, uncle and aunt for dinner.

Candlelight gleamed against freshly oiled teak panels and polished metal, and Billy felt his stomach clench over the prospect of having to spend the next couple of hours at sitting here when he could be back in his own rooms or even better, out with Teddy. He forced his shoulders back since he knew that his grandfather detested ‘slouching’, and nearly hunched forward again when he noticed the servants placing settings for only three people. “Ah, Aunt Lorna isn’t joining us?”

Grandfather put away the tablet he’d been reading and shook his head. “She accompanied King T’Challa back to Wakanda for a few days to help cement our new alliance and finish a few negotiations, which you’d know if you bothered to leave your rooms to do more than antagonize the gardeners.” Despite the verbal reprimand, he didn’t seem too upset with Billy since he wasn’t frowning and the cutlery remained unmoving upon the table.

“Ah, well… I put the gardens back the way I found them?” Billy wanted to fidget in the worst way, felt the urge to make himself invisible or to levitate the table or do *something* that would make his grandfather stop looking at him, but he forced himself to remain still – mostly still since his fingers kept twisting upon themselves - and look the man in the eye. Almost in the eye. The slight wrinkles around Grandfather’s eyes were truly fascinating….

“At least he does something other than search the palace for endless supplies of sugar and caffeine, and then stay up all night playing video games, unlike Thomas,” Uncle Pietro added as he came to a sudden stop a few feet away, the tablecloth fluttering at his presence. “Do we want to know what game has captured his attention tonight?”

Billy attempted to shrug in a nonchalant manner as he lied to his family. “I wasn’t really paying any attention, I just made him put on his headphones when there was a lot of screaming and explosions for about five minutes straight.” It really wasn’t that much of a lie since most of Tommy’s games sounded like that, it was just the fact that Tommy wasn’t playing one right now.

Uncle Pietro reached for a wineglass that one of the servants had just filled. “Wonderful, so pleased to know that the future of our country rests in the proper hands.” He didn’t stop drinking until the glass was empty.

This time Grandfather sent the disapproving look Uncle Pietro’s way. “I’m sure that Thomas will mature in his own time. I remember that the same could be said of you.” Uncle Pietro didn’t appear pleased about that reminder.

Unwilling to spend the evening with two feuding family members, especially *these* two, Billy hurried to his normal spot on the table. “Well, we wouldn’t want the food to, uhm.” Salad plates had been set out for the first course. “Why don’t we eat?” He was just about to pull out his chair when he felt… ‘something’ and looked at the door.

“William?” Grandfather paused as well to stare at him, and so missed the sight of Wanda walking through the door, dressed in a lovely gown of red silk with white lace and her hair pulled back from her face. Uncle Pietro, however, noticed almost as soon as Billy had that she had joined them, and raced to her side.

“Wanda? What are you doing here?” He grasped at her hands and held them to his chest. “Is something wrong?”

She laughed a little as she tugged her right hand free. “Does there have to be for me to want to have dinner with the men I love?” She touched her hand to his chin for a moment before glancing around him to smile at Billy. “Everyone looks so handsome tonight.”

Billy hurried around the table so he could give her a hug while Grandfather asked the servants to put out another setting for Wanda. “It’s so great to see you.” Judging from the wink she gave him, she knew how grateful he was that she had come.

“Yes, it is always a joy to have you here, and you look beautiful, daughter.” Grandfather waited until she had released Billy to lean down to place a gentle kiss on Wanda’s forehead as if afraid that anything more would damage her, yet it was clear from the sparkle in his grey eyes and the tender smile on his face that he was indeed pleased that she had joined them. “Now I regret allowing Lorna to go off like that.”

Wanda shook her head as she reached out to slide her hand along her father’s left arm, which ended with him giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “Oh, don’t say that! She stopped by before she left, and it was clear she was excited to get away for a little bit. She said that she’d heard about how beautiful Wakanda was and wanted to see it herself.”

“I think that she just wanted to try to find some vibranium to play with, myself,” Uncle Pietro teased as he led Wanda over to the table, to the spot closest to Grandfather. When she saw that this would put her opposite from Billy she paused for a moment, but Billy caught her eye and shook his head; he appreciated that she wanted to be near him, but he also knew how much his grandfather and uncle adored her and how much it must mean to them that she had come to dinner tonight. All that mattered to him was that she was here and not where she sat, not when he could stop by and visit her another time.

The joke prompted a rare laugh out of Grandfather as he raised his glass of wine for a toast. “Well, then may she be clever enough to get away with it. Here’s to family, may ours always find peace, happiness, health and prosperity.” His gaze lingered first on Wanda and then on Billy as he clinked their glasses together.

Feeling a little self-conscious then, Billy fidgeted as he sipped a little of his wine before he set the glass aside. “So, Mother, did you give Rahne the night off or something?” He glanced up at her through his bangs as he picked at his salad.

“No, I just thought about how nice it was to spend time with you, your brother and Pietro today and wanted to see you a little more.” She smiled as she set her fork down. “I should have known that Thomas wouldn’t be here tonight.”

“Video games,” Uncle Pietro remarked with a sense of heavy censure. “I suppose it’s better than him out there drinking, but still.” He sniffed in obvious disapproval.

“As if you never did anything worthy of Father’s ire.” Wanda toyed with a stray strand of hair while she gave her brother a knowing smirk. “I distinctly remember-“

“Wanda, please!” Uncle Pietro’s face began to lose color as he stared at his twin in a beseeching manner. Meanwhile, Grandfather was rather bemused and Billy knew that Tommy would be outright *pissed* about missing this dinner.

“-that time when you decided to do a pub ‘race’ around Monaco and ended up crashing into the Costeau Aquarium, claiming you would free all of the ‘poor fish’.” She appeared so impish just then, that Billy refused to believe that she was old enough to have children at all, let alone teenagers.

“Oh yes, I remember that one,” Grandfather remarked. “No idea what got into your addled brain on that night, considering that you detest fish.”

“I think it was several liters of alcohol,” Wanda offered while Pietro ran his hands through his hair and groaned. “Then there was that time that you and-

“Drăgălaş!” Uncle Pietro shouted as he smacked his hands onto the table. “Enough of… of this reminiscing!”

Wanda gave Billy another quick wink before she schooled her expression into one of remorse. “Of course, Pietro, if you insist. I just thought it would be nice to recall a bit about our past.”

Uncle Pietro actually appeared a bit ashamed just then, before he jerked his hand through his already disheveled hair and fixed Billy with a look that conveyed the message of ‘you will *not* repeat a word of what has been said tonight’. After dealing with his family for so long, Billy managed to blink back an innocent façade while he sipped his wine.

Meanwhile, Grandfather presided over the meal with a slight smile lingering on his lip as if tonight was of great amusement to him; his gaze flickered over all of them as he held his glass of wine to his chest. “We don’t do this often enough.”

“What, embarrass me?” Uncle Pietro reached for the wine bottle nestled in the ice bucket and filled his empty glass to the brim.

“No… just… *this*.” Grandfather waved his left hand about to include the table. “We don’t merely sit here and talk enough.” For a moment, something dark flashed across his face.

Uncle Pietro paused in draining his wineglass to stare at Grandfather, and even Billy had to admit he was surprised by the admission; usually ‘family’ dinners were all about being uncomfortable and lectures about duty and politics and… he always felt they were something to be suffered. Then again, it was rare that his mother was here to partake in them, so maybe tonight had something to do with her; even if she was ‘human’, was supposed to be without any powers of her own, there was indeed something special about her. There was the undeniable fact that just being in her presence made everyone better, made the family feel ‘whole’ for once.

Billy pushed aside his unfinished salad as he glanced at his mother through his long bangs. “Uhm, this is nice.” He felt his cheeks heat up as his grandfather turned to look at him.

“And what have you been doing lately, William, other than your efforts in the garden?”

“Nothing,” was Billy’s quick retort. He didn’t want Grandfather to know about Teddy because then he’d lose all contact with the other boy, would have to break off the bourgeoning relationship just like Aunt Lorna had lost her one chance at love. He also… thoughts of DV filled his mind, echoes of the other’s comforting yet mocking voice as they talked about family and limitations and magic…. “What can I do when I’m trapped here all of the time?” His vision narrowed down to the half-empty plate of salad before him, of leafs wilted by dressing and bits of dried berries, and a wave of frustration overcame him that *this* was his life – he could be doing *anything* right now, could be anywhere in the world, the multiverse and he was sitting at a table eating something he didn’t even like instead of-

“William.”

-instead of exploring all of those worlds, all of those *possibilities*, with DV by his side-

“William!”

Billy blinked, and for some reason found his vision flooded with blue. He blinked again, and this time gave in to the pressure against his face which turned him to look to the side, to look toward his mother. Wanda, awash with that comforting, glowing blue, was kneeling beside him with a concerned expression on her lovely face. “William.”

He blinked again, and realized that his body was thrumming with magic, that it sizzled not only through his blood but in the air around him. “Mother,” he whispered as he fought to control it, to pull it back in to his bones.

“Yes, darling,” she whispered back as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders without any hesitation, unheeding about the blue haze that still surrounded him.

Scared by how much his magic had slipped free even as he cherished her fearlessness, Billy hugged her as he fought for control of the magic. He nearly lost the battle when he felt something clamp down on his shoulder, until he looked up to see that Grandfather had come to stand behind him. Letting out a shuddering breath, he closed his eyes and concentrated on reining in the last of the magic, a struggle that left him oddly drained and feeling as if he’d lost one of his senses.

Now that the blue glow had vanished, Wanda loosed her arms around Billy even as she slipped into the chair beside him, her right hand clasped around his left. Billy held onto it as if a lifeline as he slumped forward, his right hand buried in his hair as if to hold his head upright.

Grandfather’s hand lingered on his shoulder for a moment before pulling away. “I think it’s time for the next course.”

Billy felt a flash of anger at the way his grandfather oh so casually moved on as if nothing happened, but when he looked up, there was a rare glow of warm understanding in those grey eyes. Unsure of how to deal with this acceptance, Billy ducked his head while his plate was cleared with a trembling hand.

“Maybe I should go,” Billy offered since it was clear he had made the servants nervous with his latest display of power.

“*No*,” his mother insisted as she held firm to his hand. “You did nothing wrong.” There was a defiant note to her voice, as if she dared anyone to say otherwise.

“No,” Grandfather agreed as he poured more wine. “I want you to stay. You rarely join us for dinner as it is.” If there was a lot of sloshing as the wine poured out, Billy decided to ignore it.

Uncle Pietro was quiet for once, which was rather unusual, and then he cleared his throat. “You are more preferable than Thomas, I must say.” He didn’t look at Billy, but at least he spoke. “Less insults and better dinner topics.”

The magic still simmered inside of Billy, barely contained and eager to be unleashed; he didn’t know what had brought it to the surface like that, when it had been quiet the entire time he’d been out with Teddy. Maybe it was the stress of dealing with Grandfather, maybe it was the fact that he’d rather be back in his rooms and not feeling as if he was under scrutiny; at least he had his mother by his side to make it more bearable.

Yet a part of him kept thinking about what DV said about families, about how they never truly understood about power, how they sought to keep you in your place because it made them feel more comfortable. As he sat there while Grandfather ordered another bottle of wine to be opened before restarting the conversation on how it would soon be time for the ‘founding’ families gala, Billy wondered if the recent orders to stay at home, to obey, were Grandfather’s attempts to control *his* power.

But that, that didn’t seem right, did it? Confused by the thoughts that filled his head – the voices that sounded too much like Tommy’s and DV’s – Billy took a deep breath and nearly called upon his talent again, called upon the comforting surge of magic. Just as he felt it burn forth from his bones, there was a slight pressure against his left thigh, which caused him to look down past the edge of the table and see-

-a lace handkerchief, one of his mothers, folded into a simple, floppy fox face. He couldn’t help but smile as he remembered her doing this, often with napkins or ribbons or any scrap of cloth she could find, to cheer him and Tommy up when they were younger and forced to suffer through breakfasts and teas with Grandfather. Focusing the magic into his forefinger, he touched the delicate fabric, and his mother let out a startled gasp when it twisted about to form a proper fox shape, albeit one tiny, white and electric blue, which then leapt up onto the table.

“-was thinking that the theme this year could be… I… don’t believe that I’ve had that much wine yet, no?” Grandfather arched his eyebrows as he watched Billy’s creation scamper across the table to snatch up a lamb medallion appetizer that was almost half its size before racing to the edge and disappearing. “Well, that was… unusual.” He sat back in his chair and peered at the spot where the fox had vanished as if waiting for more of them.

“We’re going to need more wine,” Uncle Pietro announced with much deliberation as he snatched at the bottle that one of the servants had fetched for them. “Wanda, I adore you, drăgălaş, but I wish you’d just gotten a pair of kittens or something instead of unleashing these undisciplined brats upon the world.” When Billy felt his face grow hot at that comment, Uncle Pietro shook his head as he poured more wine in first Wanda’s and then Grandfather’s glasses. He seemed to consider something before he then topped off Billy’s. “Really, can’t you do something better than a fox?”

“That was my fault – I fear I was thinking of you at the moment,” Wanda told her brother with a little too much sweetness as she held up her glass as if in a toast.

Uncle Pietro choked on the wine he was drinking upon hearing that. “Wha-? I am not some mangy dog! I am-“

“Ah yes, this seems so very familiar, this squabbling. Though I’m not sure that I missed it,” Grandfather remarked as he used his talent bring a tray of fresh breadrolls to him. “Would you care for one, William?”

“No thanks.” Between maintaining control of his unpredictable talent and watching his mother rile up Uncle Pietro, Billy didn’t have much of an appetite anymore; all he wanted was to get through the meal without any more incidents.

“Good.” The rolls settled back onto the table as Grandfather leaned forward with his fingers steepled together. “Now then, enough with the bickering, and while I find it fascinating, that’s enough magic for the time being as well. We will continue with our dinner in a civilized manner and discuss an appropriate theme for this year’s gala. *Understood*?” He cast his unwavering gaze on each of them in turn, the cool look in his grey eyes only softening when it rested upon Wanda.

“Thank you. Now, Lorna mentioned to me that she was rather enamored with the idea of a masquerade this year. What do you think brought that on, Wanda dear?”

“Ah, I think it had something to do with King T’Challa talking to her about some ceremonial masks, Father. He described a few of them to her and-“

Billy pushed his spoon about in his chilled soup while his mother and grandfather talked about the party. Across the table, Uncle Pietro didn’t appear very happy, and Billy doubted that it was the sour cherries in the soup that were to blame, especially when his uncle refused to look his way. Wondering how much longer he had to sit here before he could work up an excuse to leave, Billy hoped with some bitterness that Tommy at least was enjoying himself.

*******

Tommy ‘snuck’ back into his room, moving too fast to be seen by most everybody in the palace and avoiding the security cameras with a long-practiced ease, to find his brother stretched out on the bed with his left arm draped over his eyes. While the bed part wasn’t anything new, the fact that Billy wasn’t reading or watching some weird show was, so Tommy heaved a sigh while thinking ‘why me’ as he dropped onto his own bed. “Okay, so what, they kill off another beloved character or something? New writer come on board and the main guy suddenly not gay? Or no longer semi-oh-let’s-tease-the-audience-some-more-gay?”

Billy was quiet long enough for Tommy to wonder if the dweeb was asleep, until he moaned at the same time that his arm shifted away from his face. “You know what? I’m left to wonder why I’ve never wished hard enough that I was an only child,” he mused while he stared up at the ornate ceiling, a disturbing blue in his dark eyes.

Stilling his bouncing about on his bed, Tommy stared in surprise at his twin as he attempted to decipher if that comment was a joke or not; Billy had his tells, had this way of quirking his mouth on the left side just a little when he teased, or would duck his head or lower his eyes, yet just then had spoken in such a flat manner while lying still. This… this wasn’t *Billy* - at least, not Tommy’s Billy.

So he did what he always when he was nervous and uncertain, he laughed it off. “Ha, ha, very funny, CC. As if you could live without me.” He waited for his twin to laugh along with him or make up a joke to go with his, and frowned when Billy remained quiet, his eyes fixed upon the ceiling.

“Okay, I get the impression that you’re not happy with me, though why that is, I’ve no clue.” Tommy jumped up from the bed the same time he tossed aside his cap and began to stalk around the room. “I mean, I’m perfect, I’m hot, what’s not to love? And most importantly, I wasn’t even here to piss anyone off, so yeah, no reason at all for the silent treatment, CC.” He folded his arms over his chest as he scowled at his brother, who continued to treat the ceiling as if it was a crystal ball or something. “Oh come *on*!” If there was one thing Tommy hated, it was being ignored; he’d rush the bed and shake the little shit if he didn’t suspect that it would get him slammed into the wall again.

At last, Billy turned his head and looked at Tommy, his eyes still containing that hint of blue and unfocused, as if he was seeing something other than Tommy at the moment. “You missed dinner.”

“Yeah, well, I had a better offer, remember?” Tommy dug his phone out of his back pocket and held it up. “I told you that-“

“Hot date, yes.” Billy’s right hand lifted from the bed and twirled through the air, leaving blue sparks behind. “Mother was sad you weren’t there for it.”

“Yeah, right.” It took a couple of seconds for Tommy’s brain to catch up with what had been said; they never had dinner with their mother because most times, she was too tired by evening to have any company. “Wait, you went to visit her?” When all Billy did was continue to stare ‘at’ him, Tommy cursed beneath his breath. “You’re not telling me that she came to dinner, are you?”

“Yes, she did. It was nice having her there, at least….” For the first time since Tommy had returned, Billy began to show some emotion as what looked to be unhappiness flashed across his face. “Well, it probably would have been better if I hadn’t been there.”

“Oh please, as if she’d be happy if her baby boy wasn’t there to fuss over,” Tommy scoffed as he crept closer to Billy’s bed. “What, you and Uncle Pietro get into a fight over who should unfold the napkin in her lap? Who got to fill her water glass?” Ah, that did it, that brought a hint of a smile onto the geek’s face.

“Not… quite.” Billy groaned as he sat up on bed, the back of his grey t-shirt riding up a little; he stared at the space between his crossed legs much like he had the ceiling and picked at the hem of his boxers as they lay across his left thigh. “It got away from me again.”

“It? What, you smuggle another peacock chick from the garden into dinner?” That had been an amusing tea back when they had seven – the look on Grandfather’s face alone had been *priceless*, and Aunt Lorna had giggled for days.

“No, *it*.” Billy stared at Tommy as if he was an idiot and twirled his hand through the air again, causing even more blue sparks to scatter about.

“Ah, yeah, that ‘it’.” Okay, maybe he was a bit slow on the uptake tonight. “So what, everyone freak out?” He frowned as there was a sudden pressure in his head, a feeling as if something was pressing against his brain. Why would anyone freak out? This was just… just Billy being Billy. Was the room colder all of a sudden?

“Well, I doubt Uncle Pietro is going to invite me to any uncle/nephew excursions, but what else is new?” Billy stared at his hand for a moment and then sighed. “At least the spell seems to be working well, because you were barely missed.”

“Great! About the spell….” Tommy chuckled a little when Billy stopped contemplating glowing fingers to narrow a suspicious look his way. “You can keep it up for a while, right? Because Kate – you remember me mentioning Kate, right? Well, she’s in town and gonna be for a couple of weeks and….” Uhm, yeah, what was he supposed to say now? And why was Billy staring at him like that.

Billy continued to give him that narrow, piercing gaze that had *way* too much of Grandfather in it for Tommy’s comfort and then floated off of the bed until his feet touched the ground. “Let me get this straight – you’re going to hang around with a girl, the same girl, for the foreseeable future? Kate, as in Kate Bishop?”

“Yeah, is there something wrong with that?” Despite the fact that Billy was acting all, well, un-dweeby all of a sudden, Tommy did some narrow-eyed Grandfather-glaring of his own. Well, he tried. Dammit, it was harder that it seemed, all this squinting was giving him a headache.

“Just that she always struck me as a very intelligent young woman.”

“Oh fuck you, CC!” Tommy gave Billy the finger, which caused his twin to stop with the Grandfather impression and smile. “It just goes to show how smart she is to want to spend her time with me.”

“If you say so.” Tommy flipped off the bastard again for sounding so unconvinced. “I’ll keep up the spell, but you can’t spend all of your time away from the palace, you have to at least visit Mother a little and annoy Uncle Pietro from time to time or someone might notice you’re never around.” Billy pulled at a lock of hair as he frowned. “I’ve never cast anything for so long, so it’s best not to push things too far.”

If it were anyone other than his twin, Tommy would accuse them of having a hidden agenda, but Billy always did have a confidence problem. “All right, I should be able to manage that at least.”

His agreement appeared to cheer up his brother, who smiled as he floated back to his bed. “So, you do anything else tonight than suffer through a lousy family dinner?”

In the process of tugging down his blankets, Billy froze for a moment. “Uhm, I sorta… ran into Teddy?”

It took Tommy a second or two to figure out who the hell ‘Teddy’ was and why Billy was so hesitant to mention the guy’s name. “What?” Giving up on getting ready for bed, Tommy detoured from the closet so he could continue this conversation. “You ran into surfer dude? Where?”

Billy looked ready to pull the covers up over his head before he squared his jaw and met Tommy’s gaze. “At Pierson’s – I figured there was no reason you should be the only one out having fun so I went back for some books since we left in a rush yesterday. Teddy was there as well and… he’s nice. He’s nice and we’re going to meet up again. For a date.” He said the words in a rush, his eyes lit up with a different kind of light than the eerie blue one as if daring Tommy to say something, to object.

Tommy wanted to do just that, to point out that Billy had no idea who this guy was, had no idea if he was human or a mutant, if he could be trusted, if – aw hell, he really was turning into his grandfather and uncle, wasn’t he? Muttering to himself as he ran a hand through his hair, Tommy forced himself to calm down and think this through, to not start another fight. There was no reason to believe that this ‘Teddy’ was out to hurt Billy, not when he didn’t even know who Billy was. Not when Billy could magic the asshole to the moon if he so much as got shitty with him. “Okay, so you finally have some hope of getting some. Way to go, CC.”

If it wasn’t for his superspeed, there was no way that Tommy would have dodged the magically propelled pillow launched directly at his face. Laughing as his brother called him an asshole, Tommy raced into the closet so he could grab a change of clothes before going to bed – and came to an abrupt stop once he entered the room.

Now, he knew that Billy had been doing a few ‘tweaks’ to the place lately, but he was certain that the room had been about half as small earlier in the day. He was also certain that there hadn’t been a large… enclosure? Cage? Whatever the hell you wanted to call it filled with a way too realistic environment of miniature trees and grass and even a fucking running *stream*. All of which was for the benefit of a white and all too familiar glowing blue little fox that appeared to be shredding Tommy’s favorite Burberry scarf.

Yeah, okay. Magicked closets, freaky cages and impossible pets. Life as usual in the Lehnsherr household.

Perfectly normal.

The fox paused in its decimation of tan and plaid to bark at Tommy.

“BILLY!!!!!”

*******

Floating in the vast darkness, Billy wrapped his cloak a little tighter around himself and wondered why he never seemed to dream about his mother’s garden anymore, or about the sea, or about… well, anything other than the infinite spread of tiny worlds. It was beautiful here, if a little sterile with the absolute darkness above and below; the darkness was only broken by the soft glows cast off from the endless globes that sparkled as if priceless jewels. Any other night he would be drawn to them, would hover over them to catch a glimpse of what they contained, what minute change made them differ from the sphere on either side, yet he allowed himself to drift above them with no direction of his own as he waited for the dream to end of its own volition.

“Something wrong, Imp?”

“What is the point to all of this?” Billy slipped his right arm from beneath the weight of his cloak to gesture at the spinning globes. “What am I trying to tell myself, hmm? That the future is filled with possibilities? No, not really, not when I’ve got so many obligations crammed down my throat. That anything can happen? No, it can’t, not the things that truly matter.” He knew that better than most; even with his talent he couldn’t make his mother better, couldn’t free himself from his family’s responsibilities or gain Tommy’s confidence in things. No, some things remained impossible even if he could teleport in a blink of an eye or create things just by wishing them into being. “I don’t think I want to dream this anymore.”

“Ah, I see.” Things were quiet after that, while Billy waited for the dream to fade, for something else to replace the familiar dreamscape, yet he couldn’t even control his mind that much. “And what will you do then? Be content with your lot as poor little William, ignored by your family except when they want you for something, ignored except for what your power can bring them?”

Billy hugged his cloak to him as he shook his head. “That’s not true, they don’t ignore me.”

“Don’t they? How often did your grandfather seek you out before he realized what it was that your power could do for him? How often does your brother, your own precious twin, abandon you – the dweeb? The pathetic *geek*?” DV’s voice, which had been so soft and soothing before, took on a viperous bite now, each word distinct and sharp and so clear it was as if he spoke them directly in Billy’s head. “Your uncle – ah, that’s right, he doesn’t even acknowledge you unless it’s with scorn, does he? Always such a pest in his eyes, a horrible mistake that never should have been born.”

Huddled inside of his cloak, Billy clenched his hands into fists as he shook his head. “It’s not like that – Grandfather – they’re busy. I keep to myself, that’s all.”

“You keep to yourself because you’re different, you’re special. You keep to yourself because even if you bothered, they would just ignore you, would push you away… unless they had a need for you. Well, for your talent,” DV corrected with a snide tone.

“Mother isn’t like that.” Billy felt his magic seethe inside of him as the words ground out. “She loves me.” Why was DV doing this – why was this happening? Wasn’t this all in Billy’s head? Was he more messed up than he’d thought?

There was silent for several heartbeats, and when DV next spoke it was without any of the previous nastiness; in fact, he sounded full of remorse. “No, she does, but then mothers always love their monsters, don’t they?”

Hearing that – hearing his fears said aloud even if it was by some figment of his own imagination, made Billy gasp. The magic flared out of him, so brilliant and chaotic, so powerful, and even as he burned with it he thought he heard laughter.

“Yes, that’s it, Imp, let it out! Oh how magnificent you’re going to be!”

It- no, *he* continued to burn, the darkness transformed by all of the magic as if a blue star had been born, and he couldn’t stop it, couldn’t do anything as he grew weaker the longer the magic poured out. It felt like forever, felt both incredible and so frightening, and all the while DV murmured in his head, murmured indecipherable things that skittered about the edge of his consciousness. Billy tried to understand, to grasp the words, but the magic swept him away.

As the magic finally burned out, a cold began to sink into him, at first on his skin and then into it, into his veins and muscle and very bone. Billy felt the darkness take over as the cold settled in.

*******

“You know, I didn’t think I was *that* sheltered, I grew up in New York City, after all, but I’ll never be able to look at a computer the same way again now,” Teddy admitted as he rubbed at his left ear; it still felt odd to only be wearing only one earring, but at least he had one small hoop back in now.

Clarice laughed as she glanced at the closed door to the lab. “Yeah, I’ll admit that the good doctor could even make Logan blink. Whoever said academics are the stodgy types never spent the night at a bar with them.”

Teddy didn’t know about that, but he’d certainly learned some new things about researchers and their tempers – along with their language – when they grew upset over new motherboards that didn’t want to cooperate. Judging from Mr. Wisdom’s reaction to his wife’s fit, it wasn’t a new thing, so Teddy was very grateful that he could just drop off the requested supplies and beat a hasty retreat back out of the room.

“Still, I’m picking up some new things, so I’ll be able to hold my own the next time I get in a fight with someone over a taxi.”

“There you go!” Clarice reached over to clap him on the shoulder. “I’m a firm believer in that there’s always some good to come out of a bit of mental scarring.”

“Says the woman who lives to do said mental scarring.” Teddy continued to stare straight ahead as he spoke, and did his best to keep from smiling.

“Of course, have to make this life count, don’t we?” Clarice hummed a little and appeared to rock back and forth on her toes with her hands clasped behind her back, an odd look for a woman dressed in stark SHIELD dark blue and armed to the teeth. “Speaking of making life count, one couldn’t help but notice that a certain blond sheepdog was in a good mood last night. Care to tell Auntie Clarice what’s going on? You run into that cute guy again?”

“Well, it *is* a small island,” Teddy repeated back to her, and this time he did fail in keeping his face straight.

Clarice paused in mid-rock and turned her face in his direction, her purple brows arched above her green eyes. “Oh, you are *so* going to get it when we get back to base. Sassing a superior officer, Altman?”

“Merely repeating some words of wisdom passed down to me, ma’am.” He even tipped an imaginary hat while continuing to more or less stand on guard.

That earned him a disdainful scoff. “Fine then, withholding information. I’m foreseeing some midnight snack runs in your future.”

Teddy had a feeling that this was what it felt like to have siblings, a bunch of sadistic, meddling siblings. “Fine, yes, I did happen to run into the cute guy yesterday.” He folded his arms over his chest and attempted to pout over the abuse he was suffering, but it just felt so good to think about Billy again. “We had coffee, and I’m hoping to go out with him tonight.”

Off to the side, Clarice wrapped her hands around her throat. “Oh my god, the cuteness… it’s suffocating me.” She made a gagging sound while Teddy glanced around to ensure that no one else was around then before he reached over to smack her – at least, he attempted to do that, but she teleported just out of his reach. When she reappeared, she was laughing, her green eyes bright and a huge grin on her face. “Aw, I’m just teasing, Altman. You’re so adorable when you’re all frowny.”

“So does that mean you’ll fetch your own dinner for once and leave me in peace tonight so I can meet up with Billy?” He glared at his partner as he settled back against the wall before someone noticed them fooling around – especially Mr. Wisdom.

Clarice did the same, though she was still grinning even as she rested her right blades. “I suppose – I mean, you’re taking the whole newbie hazing thing better than most. David hacked into his team’s Facebook’s accounts after the third day because he was so annoyed about all of the coffee runs.”

“Ouch.” Teddy cringed at the thought of the damage the quiet genius could do, and wondered if that had anything to do with why David seemed to hold himself a bit aloof from the rest of the team. “That must have upset a few people.”

“Just a few.” Clarice hummed again for a couple of seconds. “So, this guy’s named Billy? What do you know about him?” She was still smiling, yet she didn’t come across as playful as she had a minute or so ago. “Other than he’s cute.”

“That he has a brother – that was the guy who interrupted us the other day, his family’s been on the island since it was established and that we share a lot of the same interests.” Teddy wasn’t quite sure where his partner was going with this. “What, am I supposed to get a blood sample and bank account statement next time?”

That startled a brief laugh out of Clarice, but she was quick to return to her professional demeanor. “Well, it wouldn’t hurt, but where I’m going with here is, did you tell him what you do for a living?” She raised her right hand to tap against the SHIELD badge on her chest, and when Teddy shook his head, she sighed. “Look, a bit of advice from someone who’s been there – it’s not a smart thing to let people know what you are, especially when you’re just going to up and leave sometime soon. Tell him… tell him you’re working on a project here or something, but don’t tell him you’re an agent. It’ll be less grief in the long run. It’s not like you’ve got any sort of future with this kid.”

Anger washed through Teddy upon hearing her ‘advice’, though he couldn’t quite pinpoint why; he was here in Genosha for a mission and was looking forward to when he could see his mother again. Clarice wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know, so why should he be upset? Why did the prospect of lying to Billy, of acknowledging that their relationship wouldn’t be more than a temporary thing, bother him? Yeah, Billy was cute, was more than cute, was so much of what Teddy wanted in a guy, but there were a lot of other cute, adorable guys out there.

He smacked his head back against the wall as he jerked his hands through his bangs. “You’re… yeah, you’re right. I hate lying, though.” After… after the *asshole*, the last thing he wanted to do was to lie to someone.

“I usually am.” Despite the smug response, Clarice sounded more subdued than cocky. “Look, I know it’s not an easy thing to do, but it’s for his sake as well as your own. The less this Billy knows about what you do, the better; it’s safer for him.”

Yeah, because for the last few days Teddy had risked his life holding up this wall; despite the sarcastic thought, he knew the point that Clarice was trying to make, the same point that his instructors had drilled into his head during training. Still…. “I thought this wasn’t supposed to be such a dangerous mission.”

Clarice was quiet for a few seconds before she answered. “You willing to risk his life on that? Because I can give you a list of agents who would give anything to be in your shoes right now and have the ability to make another – a better – call.”

It wasn’t the trite words that got through to him, it was the quiet conviction in Clarice’s voice. He let out a slow breath as he gave his head another smack against the wall. “So what, we never date anyone outside of SHIELD?” He blinked when that startled another laugh from his partner.

“Please, if that was the case, there wouldn’t be a SHIELD within six months.” Clarice giggled a few more times. “No, you just be smart about it, Altman. Have fun with your cute island boy, but don’t tell him too much, and never forget that it’s a temporary thing. During our break we’ll work up a decent cover story for you.”

That didn’t exactly sound like a fun way to spend a break, but did he have much of a choice? Teddy wanted to enjoy the time he did have with Billy without worrying about his job or anything else. “All right.” He just hoped that when it was time for him to leave, that Billy didn’t hold any of this against him.

*******

Sebastian was reviewing Drew’s summary of the Algiers report when his phone began to ring from an outside line – the phone which wasn’t supposed to ring unless Naomi approved a call through to him, first. Suspecting that he knew this caller, he sat back in his chair as he answered it. “Shaw speaking.”

“You’re sounding rather solemn there, Director. Having a bad day?”

Sebastian removed his right hand from the arm of his chair before he crushed it in anger; he rather liked this chair, its leather backing was broken in just perfect. “Mr. Hewa, I wish I could say that this was a pleasant surprise, but then I’d be lying.”

“Come now, lying is such a little sin compared to the others you’ve committed, don’t bother to restrict yourself on that front on my account,” Mr. Hewa chided, humor plain in his cultured, smooth voice; he sounded almost British - *almost*. There was something just… ‘off’ about the man, enough to warn Sebastian to be careful about him. That and the fact that he could never trace these calls nor record them.

Considering his busy agenda for the day, there was no time to play word games with the mysterious stranger. “There is little I do on your account unless it benefits me. Speaking of which, I assume this call is about the Magnus boy?”

“Ah, quick to the point as always, such an amusing trait with you Americans. Yes, I was calling for an update in the acquisition of our ‘boy’.”

Sebastian risked tapping his fingers against the tablet on his desk as he called up Agent Guthrie’s latest report. “Everything is in place, though there have been comments in how quiet it’s been since Dr. Wisdom-Pryde has relocated to Genosha.”

There was a chuckle on the other end of the line. “In other words, you would appreciate a reason for your people to be so diligent and hard-working, I understand. Very well, one rather spectacular display, coming up soon.”

“Good.” Sebastian closed the file, certain that Guthrie would have his people prepared for anything that Hewa would send their way. “Is there anything else?”

Hewa laughed again. “No, not as long as you moved the pawn I requested into position. The boy is coming along nicely, so all we need is to have the final piece into play and wait for the right events to come about.”

“I’m doing my part, be sure to do yours.” Sebastian slid his hand into his lap before he destroyed the tablet.

“Oh, that I am.” The other end of the line went silent as Hewa ended the call without allowing Sebastian another word.

Frustrated at how the man manipulated their conversations like that, Sebastian forced himself to take several breaths to calm himself down. Then he pulled up all of the files on the Genosha mission, determined to mine through the data to look for what he was missing, to find some sort of clue as to what Hewa was trying to pull off, to find some sort of leverage over the man. Sebastian detested the idea that he was being used, and would turn the tables on the man somehow.

*******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhm... yeah. Some weird stuff going on, but Teddy and Billy! Tommy and Kate! Maybe even a double date! Uhm... yeah....
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes left, no beta for this fic so I try to go back and fix stuff when I find it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Sorry it's been a while, but yes, still ongoing! Things have been crazy so writing in general has been a bit slow. Thank you so much for the steady kudos that come through for this story, they definitely urge me on to get the next chapter out, and comments are truly appreciated.  
> *******

*******

Buzzing, there was a buzzing sound like annoyed bees flittering around Billy’s head. He groaned as his shoulders hunched together, for a moment terrified of moving further, of opening his eyes, and then he woke up enough to identified the sound as Tommy’s snoring. Groaning again, he rubbed at his face as he sat up in bed, his fingers shifting upward to tangle in his hair as he shivered, for some reason feeling cold deep inside. His left hand fell down to rub at his chest, at the center of the coldness, but the feeling didn’t dispel even as he huddled forward. 

Hadn’t been there something about ice in his dreams? Something… something…. He shook his head as he shivered again, wanting nothing more than something hot and heavily caffeinated in his system. Magic bubbled up and burst forth, for a moment bringing delicious warmth with it, and then a venti espresso macchiato appeared in his left hand; DV was right in that magic was the one true thing that he could rely upon, that would always be there for him. It certainly made mornings bearable….

As the coffee helped to clear up his muddled thoughts, Billy’s phone made a chiming sound. Frowning a little since the person responsible for all of his texts was snoring away on the opposite side of the room, he finished the last of the hot beverage before he reached for the phone and felt some more of the chill inside of him vanish when he saw Teddy’s name come up on the screen. Hesitating for a moment, he bit into his bottom lip as he thumbed past the lock screen of the device to see what the other boy had sent to him, and blinked when it was a message about them doing something later that afternoon. At first Billy thought that perhaps he was imagining things since part of him had been waiting for the inevitable let down of never hearing from Teddy again, but this… *this*.

Fumbling to set the empty cup on his nightstand, he then placed his phone on his lap and rocked back and forth while he attempted to figure out what to do next; he should answer, yes? Yes, he should answer. But how? Emoji? No, that was so lame, wasn’t it? Well, maybe one emoji, maybe a sleepy one… no, wouldn’t that make Teddy feel bad about waking him up? Should Billy wake Tommy up for help? *No*, he wasn’t so helpless as to need his brother’s help for this, and besides, he’d never hear the end of it….

Handling his phone as if it was a venomous creature and would turn on him at any moment, Billy pecked out what he hoped wasn’t a too eager message of ‘sounds great, how about sushi’, which allowed him to use a smiling cat icon. He held his breath the entire time it took for Teddy to respond, with a grinning cat icon of his own, plus a sushi one and party hat. Teddy asked which sushi place Billy wanted to go to, and Billy replied ‘Rollo’s’ since it was farther from the palace and less likely to be patronized by any of the staff. His heart thundered in his chest when Teddy offered to pick him up for their ‘date’, and he had to delete his garbled reply before he typed out that he had some running around to do and would just meet Teddy there. 

Teddy sent a couple more texts, along the lines of reminding Billy that he was on the hook for coffee after their dinner tonight, before signing off that he had to go to work. Billy stared down at his screen, at the rows of messages, at the winking cat face, at… at the proof that he hadn’t made too much of an idiot of himself either yesterday or this morning, at the prospect of seeing Teddy again. *Teddy*. Someone funny and sweet and as much of a geek as himself and so gorgeous it hurt to look at him for more than a couple of minutes at a time.

A date. Panic built inside of Billy and pushed aside the cold, pushed aside air, pushed aside the familiar sight of the bedroom for something dark and spacious until Billy scrambled to contain his magic. He leaned forward to bury his face against the soft material of his grey duvet and forced himself to breathe in and out until his emotions calmed down, and then got up off of the bed. Take a shower, he told himself. Get ready and then grab something to eat, maybe get out of the palace for the day. One good thing was after dinner last night, he doubted that anyone would come looking for him for the next day or two….

He grabbed a clean pair of boxers then headed to the bathroom, and stood under the hot water for several minutes before he even bothered to start washing anything. It wasn’t long after that when he was standing in front of one of the sinks and staring into the fogged up mirror, the towel around his hips threatening to fall off as he stared at his blurry image. Yeah, nothing spectacular there all right, he thought to himself as he tried to figure out how Tommy, his identical twin, managed to look attractive enough to date someone like Kate Bishop, and Billy looked like *this*. Could his chin get any pointier? Ears stick out any more? What was up with his eyebrows? Why couldn’t he have gotten green eyes as well, or his grandfather’s grey? The color looked fine on his mother, but somehow with his darker hair it just turned… muddy. Yeah, muddy was a good word for him. Muddy and boring and… he sighed as he poked at his bony chest. A failure all around. He couldn’t even skip shaving because the bit of dark hair growing in was so sparse and uneven, unlike the full beard of Grandfather’s the few times he’d deigned to grow it out. On the whole, Billy hadn’t felt the lack of a father while growing up when there’d been Grandfather and Uncle Pietro around – if anything, there’d been too much of dominant male presence in his life – but there were times when he wish the man was there so he could yell at him for the sorry lack of genetics the asshole had contributed.

So why was Teddy interested in him? Pity? Insanity? Did Billy have ‘desperate’ branded on his forehead or something? He might not have a problem with the latter if it meant he got to spend some time with the gorgeous guy. Certain that his spell was holding up, he didn’t think that Teddy had a clue who he really was, so it couldn’t be to get in good with the royal family or anything. Was it some sort of prank? But Teddy didn’t seem like the type….

“It’s too early to think like this,” Billy muttered to himself as he finished getting ready. After brushing his teeth, dealing with the pathetic bit of stubble and rubbing a little gel into his hair with the faintest of hope of wrangling some sort of order to the mutinous strands (again, why did the riot of curls on his mother look lovely, while on him the floppy waves looked like a mess? A disastrous mess at that?), he pulled on the boxers and left the steam-filled room. No big surprise to find Tommy still dead to the world, drooling onto the pillow and snoring away. Billy resisted the urge to magic him up to the ceiling since their last prank war had cost him a mint condition first issue comic (and Tommy some stupid pair of sneakers, and the palace almost an entire wing before Grandfather did that evil eye glare thing for a whole twenty minutes at them and doled out the ‘I am rather disappointed with you, when I was your age I was too busy fighting for my survival to be blithering idiots such as yourselves’ speech).

Billy couldn’t help but smile when he entered the closet and saw the cage he’d conjured up last night, along with the glowing blue and white fox running around inside of it. “Hey, up already, Tails?” He reached inside to stroke a finger along the tiny fox’s back, and swore it shook itself beneath his touch and yelped in what seemed excitement as it remained in the one spot until he pulled his hand away. “Want some breakfast?” He concentrated until a few scraps of raw meat, probably filched from the kitchen, appeared in the cage in front of his new pet.

Tails didn’t wait long to descend upon the feast, and Billy only watched for a moment before he went to get dressed; he didn’t care what Tommy said, he was keeping the pet and might even try to give Tails a companion or two if he could figure out how he’d created the fox in the first place. Did he need his mother to make another origami fox? Or could he just crumple up a napkin and will it into being? Something to ponder later, after he got some breakfast in him. For a moment he was tempted to go see his mother, but after having company for a good bit of the day and then joining them for dinner, she probably was exhausted and needed some time for herself. No, he’d go have breakfast at Amma’s, leech the wifi at Nico’s, see if any new comics arrived at the Attic and read in the park for a little bit, until it was time to meet up with Teddy. 

He almost pulled on the red hoodie before he decided on something different, a greenish-grey sleeveless hoodie which he slipped on over a black t-shirt and some jeans.  For some reason the darker colors called out to him, the layer of fabrics helped to make him feel warm even though it wasn’t like it would be cold outside.

Whatever. He was hungry and didn’t want to remain at home any longer, so it was time to go. Allowing his magic free rein, Billy concentrated on the illusion spell to keep people from realizing who he really was and that he wasn’t in his rooms, and then teleported away.

*******

Tommy fidgeted with his phone while he waited for Kate to choose a pair of shoes to wear. “Eh, go with the blue pair,” he told her.

She frowned at the strappy stiletto heels and chose the gold sandals instead. “Trust a guy to pick the ones that aren’t meant to be walked in for more than fifty feet at a time, and on a flat, carpeted surface at that.”

“Then why do you have them?” Sometimes he didn’t understand women.

“Because sometimes you want to go for ‘devastating’, and they do the trick.” She smiled as she slipped on the sandals. “That and have you ever seen the damage one of those things can do as a weapon? Almost as good as a knife.”

And most of the time he didn’t get Kate, such as right now. Was she joking? He couldn’t tell if she was joking, especially when she smiled at him like that, with her blue eyes shining and a slight quirk to her lips as if daring him to take her at her word. But it was okay, because that’s what he really liked about her, that he couldn’t figure her out. Too many people were willing to be exactly what he wanted them to be – no, willing to be what they thought *Prince Thomas* wanted them to be – so someone like Kate was precious. “You planning on using them on me any time soon?”

“Hmm, I like to keep my options open,” she teased as she finished with the last buckle on the shoe then leaned over to give him a quick kiss. “But I’m hoping it’s not necessary.”

He grinned up at her as he tucked his phone away. “I always figured you’d just smack me with a rolled up newspaper or something.”

“Not heavy enough, I’m thinking more like a full wine bottle for the best effect,” she told him as she tugged him onto his feet from the couch.

“Eh, what a waste of a good wine.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t waste the good stuff on a scoundrel like you.”

“Scoundrel, I like that.” He pulled his hand free and raced around her several times, enough to generate a gust of wind that caused her lilac-colored skirt to flare up around her knees.

She laughed as she batted the flimsy material down, and gave him a light slap to the right shoulder when he slowed to a ‘normal’ speed. “It certainly fits you, T. Now come on, or we’re going to be late.”

“If you insist.” He tugged his grey cap down a little tighter over his hair as he followed like a well-trained puppy as they left Kate’s penthouse suite, on their way to meet this ‘Cassie’. “You said her dad’s a scientist?”

Kate gave an elegant shrug while she waited for the elevator to arrive. “More like a specialist. He’s among the top in the field for micro-electronics and security systems, stuff like that. I don’t pay that much attention to it.”

Yeah, right, and Tommy barely had any money to his name. “Okay, so don’t ask the guy questions about electronics unless I want to be bored stiff.”

That prompted a laugh out of Kate as she stepped into the elevator. “Yes, pretty much. But Cassie’s a sweetheart, so I think you’ll like meeting her.” She folded her arms over her chest and gave him a stern look. “I’d like to be able to say the same about meeting your brother.”

“Uhm, yeah, about that.” Tommy jostled his cap as he rubbed at the back of his head, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. “I meant to ask him about that this morning, honest, but the dweeb woke up early and was gone by the time I got out of bed.” Guess the dinner last night must have really bothered him; Tommy had even checked his mother’s garden in case Billy was hiding out there, and had been told by Rahne that Billy hadn’t stopped by. “Not like he has that busy of a social life, though, so I’ll get him another day.”

“Be sure that you do.” Kate pulled a pair of sunglasses out of her small purse and set them on top of her head in anticipation of the sunny day outside. Once the elevator reached the lobby level of the hotel, she strode out of it with confidence and headed for the seating area, and it only took a few seconds for Tommy to figure out that the petite blonde huddled in the middle of one of the overstuffed red couches was probably ‘Cassie’. The girl, who appeared in her early teens, leapt to her feet when she noticed Kate’s approached and waved. “Kate!”

Yeah, definitely Cassie. Kate waved as well and went over to the girl, who jumped up to give her a hug. Cassie Lang was cute, if you liked ‘em young, blonde and obviously American with the cut-off jeans shorts, the colorful layered tank tops and messy ponytail. “It’s so good to see you,” the girl proclaimed. “I think they’re about to kick me out,” she mumbled in a quieter tone when Kate stepped back.

“Please, if they let Tommy here wander around without a leash, they should have no problem with you. Cassie, this is my friend Tommy. Tommy, Cassie.” Kate introduced them to each other with a negligent wave of her manicured right hand, mindful to leave off any last names despite the fact that Tommy had one lined up – even had the fake ID as well. “He’s a local.”

“Oh, really?” Cassie’s blue eyes went wide and she toyed with the end of her long ponytail as she looked up at him. “You really live here? Have you ever been to the palace? Seen the royal family?”

Tommy caught the way that Kate’s lips twitched, which she smothered by rubbing at her nose, and did his best to act nonchalant. “Eh, I’ve seen them a couple of times from a distance,” he lied. “You can’t help but run into them now and then because of some fancy event or parade, but it’s only special people like the Princess here who gets the royal invites.”

Kate laughed a little as she led them to the front doors of the hotel. “Right, like your life is lacking so much for that fact.” She slid the sunglasses in place and waited until they were a little further down the sidewalk to come to a stop. “What’s the plan for the day? This is Cassie’s first time here so where should we take her?”

Tommy gave the matter some thought for a few seconds. “How about the piers? We can get a bite to eat and there’s better trinkets there if she wants some souvenirs for her friends back home.”

“Oh!” Cassie clapped her hands together as she almost hopped to keep up with his and Kate’s longer steps. “I’ve heard about them, and the cafes overlooking the ocean! That sounds like fun, and the memorial to the Fallen isn’t too far away, is it?”

He did his best to keep from wincing at her question. “Yeah, it’s close by.” It was bad enough when the whole family had to join Grandfather every year at the anniversary of the monument’s commemoration, but he should have expected that Kate’s friend would want to see the gleaming metal sculpture and eternal burning flame dedicated to all of the mutants who had given up their lives to the fight for equality and freedom.

“Hmm, be sure not to eat too much at the cafes, since there’s the Harvest Market on the way back,” Kate told Cassie as she held on to her friend’s wrist and urged her to turn around so they could go in the opposite direction. “You’ll be amazed at the food you can buy there.”

“Really? I wonder if I can find something for my dad. He’s been into a lot of organic stuff lately-“

Tommy tuned out the babbling since it didn’t sound that interesting and pulled his phone out of the pockets of his cargo pants. Maybe he should see if Billy was off sulking somewhere and could come hang out with them, to act like some sort of buffer between Cassie and Kate. However, when he started to tap on his phone, Kate caught hold of his right arm and slipped her left one through it. “So, you think we’ll see anything interesting down at the piers?” she asked him.

Distracted by her wide smile, Tommy put his phone away again and shrugged. “Eh, sometimes you have water and fire manipulators down there putting on shows, especially since it’s getting close to the yearly gala. Some of them are hoping to be hired for the festivities so yeah, there’ll probably be a bit of flash.”

“See, I knew there was a reason why I put up with you,” Kate teased as she patted his forearm.

“What, other than my stunning good looks and overwhelming sexiness?”

“Well, I was thinking more about how my mother always told me to be kind to the underprivileged, so you keep thinking that, T.” Kate’s smile took on a wicked grin while Cassie attempted to stifle her giggles with the back of her right hand.

Tommy snatched away Kate’s sunglasses and put them on before she could even blink and grinned as she gazed at him in surprise. “Oh, I’ll be ‘thinking’ things, all right.” He slid the glasses down so he could waggle his eyebrows at her.

Kate scoffed as she plunked the glasses off of his face. “I think someone’s going to end up pushed off of a pier since he needs a dose of cold water.”

“Hate to break it to you, Princess, but the water’s nice and warm here. Why don’t you join me?” He laughed as she stomped on his right foot.

“Maybe I should have worn those blue shoes after all,” she told him in a too sweet tone of voice.

Meanwhile, Cassie followed along beside them, giggling while she snapped a couple of pictures. “You two make the cutest couple. I hope to find a boyfriend of my own someday soon.” She sounded a bit wistful just then.

Kate shoved Tommy aside when he tried to wrap his arms around her. “Great, you can have this scoundrel.”

Aw, she was crazy about him. Tommy smiled as he dodged another stomp to his feet and wondered if he really should work on introducing her to Billy, since he was going to need the dweeb’s help in ensuring that Kate survived formally meeting the rest of the family if she didn’t come to her senses any time soon.

*******

A smirking brown cat with one green and one golden eye stared up at Xavin as she gawked into the open cardboard box. “Kar, what the hell did you buy now?”

“Oh, did the Snookie Cats shipment come in?” Xavin’s fiancée wrapped sparkling arms around her chest and dug a pointy chin into her right shoulder. “Yay, they did!” She gave Xavin a quick kiss on the cheek before swooping in to snatch up the box and flitting away, excited enough to emit various waves of colored light.

“’Snookie Cats’? Do I even want to know?”

“Just that they’re really popular right now and these’ll sell, I promise!” Karolina flashed Xavin a pleased smile as she went to find some place to unpack the new goods in their already crowded store before they reopened from their lunch break.

It had to be an internet thing. Xavin closed the x-acto knife and slid it into the back pocket of her jeans before she set about cleaning up the rest of the unpacked boxes, a slight smile curling her lips as Karolina hummed along to some mystery song as she worked. Since it had been a busy morning at ‘Marmalade Skies’, there was a bit more clean-up to be done as well, shelves that needed reorganized and restocked, trash disposed of and glass wiped clear of smudges, a bit of order restored that made Xavin feel proud once it was done. It wasn’t much in the grand scheme things, but this was her home, this shop and the apartment above it – was hers and Karolina’s. Despite what they could have, this was what they wanted.

“So, what do you think?”

Turning around at her love’s question, Xavin approached the new display and wrapped her arms around Karolina’s waist and nuzzled the other’s soft, silky blonde hair for a moment while she contemplated the odd collection of cats. “They’re so cute it’s sickening,” she admitted after a moment’s debate.

Karolina laughed as she patted Xavin’s forearms. “See! I told you they’ll sell!” It was a long-standing joke between them about how anything that annoyed Xavin was certain to be a hit with the humans.

“They better, or else they’ll be going in the big bonfire they have around here soon,” Xavin warned.

Her lover made an exaggerated sound of horror before giggling as she turned around. “How can you be so mean to anything so cute?”

“Because you use up all of the cuteness quota in my life,” Xavin informed her as she leaned down for a kiss, one that lingered for several seconds – at least until the phone rang.

Pulling away with a smile, Karolina headed toward the door. “You answer that while I run out for some coffee, okay?”

“All right.” Kavin waved goodbye as she went over to the counter and reached below it for the store’s phone, wondering if it was that kid asking if the Gloomy Bear purses were back in stock yet. “Marmalade Skies, how can I help you?” She even managed a semi-polite voice for once.

“ You can assist me with a favor, Prince Xavin .”

As soon as she heard the words come through in *that* language, with *that* title, Xavin struggled to control both her rage and her shape before she did something she regretted. “Whoever you are, you are-“

“Save the insults,” the mystery person continued in English. “Now isn’t the time, and you *owe* me, remember?”

Recognition began to filter through the rage. “Wait, is this S’-“

“It’s *Sarah* now, if you’ll remember.”

Xavin took a few deep breaths and forced her hands to shift back into human specifications, for the green to fade to warm brown. “Yes, Sarah. Okay. Not to be too much of a bitch, but why the hell are you bothering me?” She thought the woman was too deeply buried to risk reaching out to her like this.

“Because I need your help.” It sounded as if Sarah wasn’t too pleased about that, which hey, suited Xavin fine because she wasn’t in the mood to risk Karolina and drop everything to run to… wasn’t Sarah in the US? She was the last time Xavin had seen her.

“Look, you helped me out, I’ll admit that, but I’ve got something good going on here and I’m not willing to just up and-“

“Yes, you do,” Sarah cut her off with a ruthlessness that wasn’t surprising for a former royal bodyguard. “And you owe it to me, that new life you and your girlfriend have. So here’s where you pay off that debt.”

Closing her eyes, Xavin wondered why it never mattered how far or how fast you ran, you never really could get away from your past. “Look, leave Kar out of this, okay? Whatever shit you drag me into, make sure she stays clean.” Or else she didn’t care what she owed ‘Sarah’, if she became labeled an oathbreaker or worse, she’d hang up and never look back.

There was silence on the line for several seconds and then Sarah sighed. “It might not be so bad, all right? Teddy is there and-“

“What the fuck? Why is *he* here? Are you here, too?”

“No, which is why I’m calling-“

Xavin kicked the counter’s base, and cursed when she forgot about her strength at the sound of breaking wood. “Why is he here?”

“Because he joined up with SHIELD and-“

“Dammit! Of all the stupid-”

“Would you let me finish!” Sarah’s loud, irate voice burst through the phone’s speaker and made Xavin blink in surprise. “He’s old enough to determine his own future, even if this is not one I entirely approve of for him. And… there were extraneous circumstances.” Sarah paused for a couple of seconds and sighed. “I can’t be there for him, not without raising suspicions, but you’re right there. All I’m asking is for you to keep a distant eye on him and *should* there be trouble, to help him out. Take whatever precautions you need, but we both know that having a hidden agent can make a big difference should something go wrong. I’m working on having more help there as well.”

Xavin chewed on her left thumbnail as she considered the request, her gaze drifting over the shop the entire time. She had such a good life here, a happy one… and it was in large part owed to the help Sarah had given her once she had arrived on Earth. She and Karolina had decided to settle in Genosha as it was the best place for them to ‘blend’ in, so in theory, if she did have to use her powers to help out the boy…. “If I do this, I’m in the clear, understood? Even if he doesn’t need any help.”

“Yes, that’s fine.” Sarah sounded so relieved just then that Xavin felt a bit guilty for the condition. “I’m hoping it’s just a case of nerves, that I’m being paranoid over him leaving home for the first time.”

“Yeah, empty nest syndrome or stuff like that. Look, I still have the online account you set up for me when you helped us out, send me whatever information you think I should have, all right?”

“I’ll do that. And thank you.” Sarah didn’t say anything else before she hung up.

Maybe it was a case of empty nest syndrome, but Xavin didn’t buy it – ‘Sarah’ was one of the best, had been trained to defend those in her care with her very life. Even if she had been on Earth these past eighteen years or so, that wasn’t enough time to make her weak – not when she was still carrying on her duty. So that left Xavin with deciding when to tell her fiancée that they would have some extra work to do for the foreseeable future.

*******

“Come on, they fry up really good!”

“Oh my god, are they… no! They’re still alive!”

“Fresh octopus! Caught this morning! Come, pretty girl, buy some and make it for your boy, give him lots of energy.”

“But- he’s not my boyfriend! Stop *laughing* you idiot!”

Kate smiled as she watched Cassie smack a guffawing Tommy and shove him away from the table where a hopeful young man with what looked to be gills in his neck held up a handful of squirming baby octopi, while a couple of women waited with obvious impatience for them to get out of the way. The two continued on to another table, where Tommy pointed out another local delicacy, earning another smack from Cassie even as she grinned.

At the start it had been clear that Tommy hadn’t been too happy to have Kate’s friend tag along, but over time Cassie’s cheerful attitude and willingness to explore everything with an open mind had won him over, and soon he was treating her as if a younger sister – was teasing her even as he went out of his way to make her laugh. It probably didn’t hurt that he would glance aside to see if Kate approved and that she did, happy that two people she cared about were getting along and having fun. These were the types of days she needed more of in her life, days where she smiled enough that her cheeks hurt, that she lost track of the time because it flew by too fast, that she was with the people she wanted to be and-

“There’s no way this will work, right?”

Kate blinked as Cassie held up some fragrant-smelling pouch to her face, the bag wrapped in vibrant fabric and tied off in a red ribbon. “What is ‘this’?” she asked as she wrinkled her nose. “And why does it smell so strongly of vetiver?”

“It’s supposedly a love charm.” Cassie motioned to a table several feet away. “There’s a bunch of charms over there.” A young woman with dark green hair and flawless pale green skin sat behind the table and gave her a placid smile in return for the attention.

“Navi’s known for her stuff,” Tommy remarked as he poked at the charm, which released an even stronger scent of greenery. “Maybe it’ll help Shortie here find a boyfriend.”

Cassie scoffed as she jerked the bag away from his fingers. “As if I need to resort to this,” she informed him with a glare. “And how would you know? You use them?” Her blue eyes narrowed and a sly grin curled upward. “You use the love spell?”

It was Tommy’s turn to scoff as he rolled his eyes. “Oh please, as if I’d need something like that.” He made a dismissive wave with his right hand.

“What, you don’t believe in magic?” Kate pulled down her sunglasses and looked over their dark rims at him.

He frowned as he reached out to flick the bag. “No… magic is… no.” His expression just then was a bit odd, and then he gave his entire body a quick shake. “Someone as awesome as me doesn’t need any love spells,” he reiterated.

It was her turn to roll her eyes. “Okay, T.”

Cassie appeared just as dubious as she returned the bag to the table, yet hovered nearby for a few seconds before she made a purchase. As the green-skinned woman gave her a small paper bag with the goods, the girl blushed and thanked her before returning. When Kate gave her a questioning look, Cassie shrugged as she fumbled to put the bag into her purse. “Eh, I got a charm to help me with my studies and another for my dad. I figured it couldn’t hurt.”

“Not at all.” Kate reached over to give her friend a quick hug. “Now if only she had a spell to give someone a sense of humility, all would be good.”

“Hey! Why do I have a feeling that was about-“

“Kate? Kate Bishop?”

Used to hearing her name be called out, Kate didn’t think much of it as she spun around, a plastic smile plastered on her face that almost faltered when she recognized the man standing a few feet away. “Mr. Petros?”

“Please, call me Dominic.” He smiled as he reached out his right hand toward her, and it took her a second to realize that she was to grasp it with her own. “I’m not on official business right now.”

“Ah, that would explain the casual attire.” Beside her, she caught a muttered curse from Tommy and the way he edged behind her and struggled to keep from reacting, to keep from doing anything that would draw the Assistant Minister of Arts from noticing that his country’s wayward prince was a mere seven or so feet away.

Dominic Petros laughed as he smoothed his now free hand along the front of his blue cotton shirt. “Yes, it’s nice to have a reprieve from suits on such a lovely day.” He stared past her at Cassie and Tommy, and Kate caught her breath as he merely continued to smile. “Are you here with friends? I didn’t receive any communication that you or your father would be visiting.”

“My father, as always, is occupied with business while I am very pleased to say that I’m here purely for my own pleasure,” she told the older man as she reached out to touch his left arm with as much of a disarming smile as she dared to give a happily married man. “My friends are visiting so I decided to come as well, since I didn’t get to enjoy your lovely island as much as I’d liked during my last trip.”

Dominic’s gaze past over Tommy in a polite manner and focused back on Kate, a pleased gleam in the brown eyes. “I am very happy to hear that! You’ll have to let me know if you and your companions are staying long enough to attend this year’s gala so I can send along some invites. We’ll be delighted to see you there.”

Kate nodded as she took a step back, which allowed Tommy to edge closer to the crowd of people checking out a table covered with handmade jewelry. “Yes, I’ll do that since I’ve heard so much about the event. Thank you for your generous offer.”

He waved aside the thanks and then glanced at his watch. “It was wonderful to see you, but I have to get going – my wife’s waiting for a few things she needs to make dinner and I know better than to keep her waiting too long.” He smiled at his joke as he wished Kate a wonderful visit, and nodded when she told him goodbye.

“Huh, he seemed nice,” Cassie commented as she watched him leave. “Do you really think he’ll give us invites to the gala?”

“Yes, since he was very helpful to me during my last visit.” Kate looked past her friend at Tommy, who seemed to have developed a suspicious interest in beaded bracelets. “Do you need anything else here?”

Cassie shook her head. “No, I’m good. I should get going, too, since Dad will probably be back at the hotel soon.” She reached out to enfold Kate in a hug. “I’ll call you later?”

“Yes, please. We’ll figure out what we’ll do tomorrow.”

The assurance that they would meet up again made Cassie beam with joy. “Great!” She danced back a step or two before turning around and heading toward the nearest exit, a huge grin on her face – and stopped after about three feet. “See you too, Tommy!”

Hearing his name be called out made Tommy flinch, but when he realized it was Cassie telling him goodbye, he managed to give her a weak smile and wave back. Kate watched Cassie leave before she latched onto the troublemaker’s arm. “Come on.”

“Where are we going? Back to the hotel?” He summoned up a leer and even managed to raise up his eyebrows a couple of times, but she could tell his heart wasn’t into it this time – which just made her even more suspicious.

“No, to someplace where we can talk in private.” They left the marketplace and went down the street, toward a small park with several benches lined up beneath the huge palm trees. “Okay, sit down and talk,” she ordered when she found an empty bench away from the rest.

Tommy pulled away for a moment with a surly look on his face, before he sighed and dropped down onto the bench in a sprawl of long legs and arms. His expression was now a pout as he stared up at her, but the look in his green eyes was more troubled than upset. “I don’t know what you want to talk about, I mean, I was pretty good today, right?”

She let out a slow breath as she nudged his left leg aside so she could sit next to him. “I think you know what this is about.”

“My undeniable animal attraction?”

It was second nature by now to just lash out and smack him in the stomach, causing him to double over. “Ow!” He whined a little for a few seconds. “You sure you’re not a mutant? That really hurt.”

“Nope, just very intelligent and skilled at making every hit count,” she informed him. “Now quit deflecting and ‘fess up. How could a man whom I’ve seen stand right in front of you at a palace function and address you by your title fail to recognize you today?” She reached out to tug at the grey cap he wore. “Don’t even try to tell me this thing is a clever disguise, *T*.”

“It’s…. complicated.” Tommy grimaced as he sat back on the bench.

“No, it’s not,” Kate argued. “Are you bribing him or something? If so, he’s a hell of an actor because I didn’t pick up anything. Or do you have some special talent besides the speed thing?” A talent which concerned her, because she wasn’t sure she liked him being able to influence people like that, to be honest.

Tommy must have picked up on what she’d left unsaid because he grabbed at her right hand and gave it a squeeze. “No, nothing like that – at least, not me.” He sighed as he rubbed at his face with his right hand. “Look… it really is complicated.”

“No it’s not, you open up your mouth and explain things to me.” She twisted about on the bench so she could better face him, and caught how conflicted he appeared just then. As she studied him, the way he bit into his bottom lip, the way he clutched at her hand, the way Petros had looked past him as if he didn’t exist…. “Does this have anything to do with your brother?” she hazard to guess.

The reaction was instantaneous – Tommy’s head shot up and he stared at her with green eyes gone wide. “How- wait, no.” He shook his head and cursed. “Why do you think it has anything to do with Billy?”

Yeah, that was a definite slip there. “Because there has to be a reason why he’s almost never at the palace functions, right? I mean, I’ve seen pictures of him and footage of the few times he is, and he appears normal. You talk about him as if he’s normal, too, if a bit shy. And back in London, you knew someone who could help us out.” She paused to give his hand a comforting squeeze. “I don’t think you’re the type to run to just anyone for help, T. From what I can tell, you’re not really close to… well, besides your mother, there’s Billy.” Billy and her; that was part of the reason she’d taken a chance on such a brash, crazy guy. “So did he do something to Mr. Petros? Was he the one who helped us out?”

Tommy remained quiet for a minute or two and then he laughed, the sound low and a bit strained. “You asked me if I believed in magic back there.” He reached up to take off the cap. “Billy… it’s like he *is* magic, you know?” He glanced at her and smiled. “Well, you would if you saw him when he’s… doing whatever he does, when it looks as if he’s burning from the inside out with this blue fire. The world… changes around him.” He fell silent for a moment as he stared at his hat. “We thought all he could do at first was cast these sparks, and then one day he was flying because there was something in the tree he wanted to see. Something he *wanted*. After that… well, that’s when we realized it was all based on what he wanted, and Grandfather, you know.” He grimaced as he dropped the hat into his lap and gazed up at Kate as if waiting for something.

She attempted to wrap her mind around what he’d just said. “So he can… anything he wants?”

“As far as we can tell – at least, as long as he has the energy to will it into being.” Tommy scratched at the back of his head. “The thing is, he doesn’t want much. Some weird-ass flowers to make Mom happy, animating toys to give us something to play with when we’re bored, stuff like that. Grandfather’s the one- well, he normally doesn’t anything for himself.” A faint hint of color bloomed on his cheeks as he caught himself again.

It was probably wise to play it safe with any questions right now. “Playmates, huh? So he was behind the cute blue cat who came to visit us that day, too?”

That prompted a groan from Tommy as he tugged at his hair. “Him and that stupid cat.” He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he looked back at Kate, there was a beseeching expression on his face. “You know you can’t say anything about this, right? I mean, I don’t even want to imagine what Grandfather would do if he found out you knew but, well… it’s Billy.”

She didn’t know if he meant that she couldn’t say anything because it was about his brother, or he didn’t want anything to get out. Somehow, she thought it was the first and he really wanted to protect Billy, just as it was evident that his brother looked out for him. “You know I have a sister, and even if we’re not twins, we take care of each other,” she reminded him. “I get it. You don’t rat each other out, you don’t date each other’s exes, and you don’t ruin each other’s clothes.”

Explanation of the ‘sister code’ wiped some of the tension from Tommy’s lean body and made him laugh. “What the hell? It’s not quite the same with CC and I, okay?” He shook his head as he let go of her hand so he could wrap an arm around her shoulders and pull her close. “Yeah, no ratting each other out and there’s no way in hell we’ll date each other exes since I’m not into guys. I don’t think we give a shit about each other’s clothes since I don’t do geek chic and he prefers stuff with some cartoon character on it.”

“Why hasn’t he turned you into a toad or something already?” Kate asked as she shoved at his arm.

“Ha, ha, that would be so funny if Billy hadn’t said something similar to me just the other night.” Tommy grimaced and hugged her closer. “You two are going to get along just fine, I can hardly wait.” He didn’t sound very happy just then.

“Good, then you can definitely ask him about us meeting up tomorrow or the next day, maybe for dinner.” Cassie should be busy with her father then.

Tommy sighed as if being put upon but sneaked a kiss to her temple, which she allowed. “Only for you, Princess.” When he wasn’t hit for his presumptuousness, he settled back on the bench. “You really don’t mind meeting him? I mean, now that you know?”

She readjusted her sunglasses before she shook her head. “It’s a bit odd, knowing that he can… well, whatever he did with Mr. Petros.” She glanced aside at Tommy for an explanation.

“Ah, something to do with making sure people back home don’t realize we’re gone and that we’re not recognized while we’re out,” he said as he tapped his hat with his fingers. “It’s the only way we can run around out here without being mobbed, really. Well, more me since I resemble Uncle Pietro a bit more.”

Yes, Tommy’s coloring was more distinctive, and Billy – well, Prince William was almost as reclusive as Princess Wanda. “That makes sense. I guess I’ll reserve judgement until I meet him.” In the end, she didn’t think anyone whom Tommy cared so much for could really be so bad, not someone who had created such a cute helper and sent it to warn his brother, not someone whom Tommy turned to in a time of need.

Tommy made a rude noise as he sunk a little lower on the bench. “Yeah, well, just don’t bring up any zombie shows, or that one with the space guy who travels in the weird police box or you’ll never get him to shut up. Why he has to be such a dweeb I’ll never know.”

Kate summoned up a sweet smile while she pulled back her right elbow in preparation for another blow. “Well, better a dweeb than a troublemaking drunkard,” she informed Tommy as she nailed him in the ribs, figuring she could do Billy a bit of a favor in anticipation of their first meeting.

*******

Half-tempted to just shift into a pair of clothes, Teddy paused as he ran a towel over his hair and shook his head. No, that would be too weird, would leave him feeling odd through the night and worrying about his concentration. Best to just take the time to get ready and send Billy a text that he might be a few minutes late; he hadn’t planned on needing a shower after work, but Dr. Wisdom-Pryde had ordered servers to help with her project and Mr. Wisdom had only been too happy to volunteer SHIELD’s services to help carry in the heavy equipment. For ‘security purposes’, the man had proclaimed. ‘Wouldn’t want a spy or saboteur to slip in that way’. Yeah, right, he had just enjoyed barking out orders, and who knew that electronics could be so heavy? Though it wasn’t so much their weight that had bothered Teddy, but the fact that he’d had to carry them from all the way from the storage facility to Dr. Wisdom-Pryde’s lab without Clarice’s help since she remained on guard, on such a warm, sunny day.

Oh well, at least he’d done something other than hold up walls during his shift, but now he jammed his fingers through his hair and twisted them about to spread the gel, going for a tousled look. One good thing about the shorter cut was that it didn’t take too long to style, because as soon as he brushed his teeth, threw on a t-shirt and some jeans, his favorite pair of sneaks and grabbed his phone and wallet, he was out of here.

“Whoa, someone cleans up nice,” Hisako told him as he rushed past.

“Thanks!” He flashed her a smile but didn’t slow down, and nearly ran into David at the bottom of the stairs since he wasn’t looking. “Sorry!” He clutched at the wall to keep from falling onto the poor guy.

His glasses knocked slightly askew, David shook his head as he straightened them out. “No, it’s okay, I was distracted.” He held up the phone in his left hand. “Ah, you look… well, it’s not your uniform,” he said after a moment’s pause.

“Yeah, one gets a bit tired of the constant blue,” Teddy agreed with a grin as he ran his hand over his faded red t-shirt.

“Yes, one does.” David adjusted his glasses but didn’t move out of Teddy’s way. “So, uhm, heading out? Feel like some company?” For some reason he seemed to ask the question more to his phone than to Teddy.

A little surprised by the invite when David normally appeared happy to spend his spare time in his room, busy reading or posting on some forum or another, Teddy raised his hands and spread them apart in a bit of a hopeless gesture. “Maybe another time? I’m running late to meet someone.” Someone he really need to text.

“Okay.” David stepped aside and motioned for Teddy to move forward. “Have a nice time.”

“Sure, thanks.” Teddy gave him a smile as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and began texting Billy that he was on the way; he was a couple of blocks away and debating if he should flag down a taxi when his phone pinged back with a response. It wasn’t much, just a simple ‘ok, see you soon,’ so Teddy hurried a bit faster. At least there wasn’t too much traffic on the sidewalk so he was making good time, even if he had to check his phone a time or two and make sure he was going in the right direction.

Soon enough he saw the sign for Rollo’s, an artistic rendition of waves in bright blue, green and white colors with even brighter fish swimming about the waves. Leaning against the reddish bricks of the building was a slim figure in black jeans and a dark top, the hood of his sleeveless top pulled over his head. Guessing that was Billy, Teddy waved as he approached. 

Billy started, his right hand lifting a little and then paused, as if he wasn’t sure of himself so Teddy called out to him. “Hey! I’m really sorry about being late but work got a little crazy and I figured if I didn’t go home to wash off, they wouldn’t let me in there.” He motioned behind Billy to the restaurant.

Finally pushing away from the wall, Billy shrugged as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Well, it’s not the fanciest place around, but I’m sure they wouldn’t want you driving away the other customers.” He sounded uncertain just then, his smile a bit wan.

“Well, to make it up to you, I insist on picking up the tab tonight – you can order whatever you want.” He smiled as he came to a stop right in front of Billy. “Even the *special* rolls. More than one.” He arched his brows for added emphasis.

Billy was quiet for a few seconds and then his smile warmed as he ducked his head, causing relief to rush through Teddy. “Wow, you really pull out all of the stops, don’t you? What if I want *three* specialty rolls and dessert? And an appetizer?”

Teddy chuckled as he motioned for them to head into the restaurant. “Even if it means I’ll be stuck with instant ramen for the rest of the week, it’ll be worth it to see if you can eat all of that.” He grinned when Billy fell in step beside him and pushed back the dark grey hood.

“The *only* reason I concede is because you haven’t seen the size of the rolls here,” Billy said with an air of ruffled dignity. “I swear that their Godzilla roll is longer than my arm.”

“Oh, I’m liking the place already.” Teddy, always the gentleman his mother raised him to be, held the door open for his date, which made Billy blush a little as he ducked inside first. “All I had for lunch was some ham sandwiches from the cafeteria.”

“Yeah, so what was it that you do again?” Billy waited just inside of the restaurant for a pretty girl with neatly plaited braids to grab some menus once she confirmed it was just the two of them then walk them to a table; despite the early hour of the evening, the place was already half-filled, which Teddy took for a good sign.

Keeping in mind the ‘cover’ story he’d worked out with Clarice, Teddy urged Billy to precede him to their table. “Ah, it’s nothing too fancy, really. We’re here at the university to help out a friend of a friend with some research project, doing the grunt work with the servers and the errands and stuff like that. I’m really lucky that Clarice managed to get me on this job, since the money will go a long way to what’ll eventually be college loans and the such.” He was passing it off as a ‘gap’ year, and Clarice had warned him that the best cover story didn’t go into too many details. So yeah, play it cool, play it simple, and distract the cute boyfriend as soon as possible.

“Still, at least you have a job. Must be nice to be trusted with some responsibility. Well, with being able to live your own life.” Billy sat at the table and stared at the menu in his left as if it contained the secrets of the universe, his brow furrowed and mouth downturned while his right hand rubbed at his chest as if it was sore.

Teddy got the impression that there were a few issues lurking about at the Kaplan home, which might not be a good topic for a real first date. “Well, you’re still in school, right?” He thought Billy hadn’t said anything about graduating yesterday. 

“Yeah.” Billy continued to stare at the menu. “School.” Something in the way he said the word made Teddy wonder if he had difficulty at the place, something similar to what Teddy had experienced in the last couple of weeks. “Oh, are you seeing anything on the menu you really like?”

There was so much forced false cheer in Billy’s voice just then that Teddy decided to drop the topic, as it was an obvious ploy to change the subject. “Uhm, the Green Monster roll looks good, since I like jalapeno peppers. Or the Spicy Mama roll.”

“Hmm, that’s really good, if you like spicy salmon. I’m going to get that one and the Beauty and the Beast.” His good mood restored, Billy leaned onto the table, his chin propped up on the palm of his left hand with his bangs falling onto his face. “You won’t have to worry about appetizers or dessert since I’m ordering those two, unless you want something.”

“Or maybe we can get the vegetable tempura and split some rolls?” Teddy grinned as he placed his menu on the table as well. “How about that, since those rolls sound good to me, too?”

Billy gasped as he made a dramatic gesture of clutching at his chest. “Sharing? Isn’t that moving a bit too fast, Mr. Altman?” Then he laughed as he waved his right hand about in the air. “No, that sounds good, since I’m always so full if I try to eat two rolls.”

“All right then, veggie tempura, Spicy Mama, Beauty and the Beast, Green Monster, and I think I need to try the Rollo Rocker.” Teddy grinned as he saw tall woman with light blue skin approach their table. “Uhm, a pot of green tea?”

“Yeah, sure.”

He repeated the order to their server, who returned soon with the tea and some water. During that time, he leaned back in the chair and smiled at his date, who had taken to playing with the strings of his hoodie. “So, you come here a lot?”

Billy shrugged. “So, so.” He held up the string in his right hand for a few seconds before letting it go. “There’s a lot of good places around here, and this is one of them. Tommy likes it so….” He shrugged again, and for some reason, Teddy thought he caught a flash of blue in the warm brown of Billy’s eyes. 

“So you tag along a lot with your brother. What about with other friends?”

The dark bangs fell over Billy’s pretty eyes as his head hung lower. “Uhm, well….” Whatever he said just then was a lost mumble of words, especially since the server chose to return with their drinks. Teddy smiled at her in thanks and waited for her to leave before he asked the other boy to repeat what had been said. “Ah, really… don’t have many friends,” Billy admitted in a quiet voice.

“Oh.” Teddy took a few seconds to check the pot of tea, but it needed a little longer to steep. He didn’t know why someone as cute and nice as Billy didn’t have a ton of friends… but high school wasn’t always kind to cute gay kids who liked to read. A flash of guilt went through him as he thought about Greg, about what the- what his ex-friend would do to someone like Billy. Why should things be any different in Genosha? “Your brother… Tommy? He likes it here?”

“Yeah.” Billy peeked through the thick bangs of his disheveled hair and grimaced a little, but Teddy thought the expression was mostly for show since he straightened up in his chair and stopped fidgeting. “He eats… well, he eats a lot more than I do, so he’s always complaining about food and stuff. And about me needing to get out of the- the house.” For some reason he ducked his head again. “If it’s his turn to pick a place, we often come here, even if I like Shinju a little better. We both love Mineo’s, though, so it’s good.” 

“Ah, the pizza place us heathens haven’t been worshipping at,” Teddy teased, and earned a grin that made his heart stutter in his chest. “That’ll be next time, yeah?”

Billy nodded as he reached for the pot of tea. “Oh, most definitely.”

Okay, Teddy felt as if he’d been punched in the chest when Billy confirmed there would be another date; he had to gulp down some water to calm himself, and was grateful when the server returned with their appetizer. As he eyed the large plate filled with battered vegetables and a bowl of dipping sauce, he picked up his chopsticks and smiled at Billy. “All right, now we find out just how compatible we really are – anything you’re about to stab me over if I get it first?”

“Hmm.” Billy frowned at the appetizers as he readied his own chopsticks. “How do you feel about taro?”

“Like it, but not as much as the sweet potato I’m seeing.”

“Then I’ll give you the sweet potato for the taro, what about the mushrooms?”

“Huh, think there’s four of them, want to do a split?”

Billy chewed on his lip as he grabbed the taro. “That’ll work. You like lotus root?”

Teddy grimaced as he grabbed the sweet potato slices. “Not particularly.” 

“Okay, then you want the squash?”

“Deal.” Smiling as he grabbed the rest of the battered vegetables, Teddy laughed and began to dunk a slice of sweet potato. “See, no blood shed, no drama.”

He had a set of chopsticks jabbed in his direction while Billy went with a jaded air for a few seconds. “Hush, just wait until the sushi comes out. Deep fried veggies are great and all, but raw fish? Nothing brings out total warfare like raw fish, my friend.”

Teddy waited until after he finished his bite of sweet potato to answer. “Of course, how could I forget that? Isn’t that the very first line of the Art of War?”

“Huh, think it’s in the opening montage to Kingdom Hearts, why the Heartless attack and all.” Billy bit into his bottom lip as if he was struggling not to laugh, which was an utterly adorable sight.

Teddy was doing his best not to smile just then as well. “No, no, wasn’t that part of the opening credits to the original Star Wars movie? ‘A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a great and evil war started over sashimi’. Yeah, that’s totally it.” He grinned when Billy lost it and gave in to laughter.

Okay, so they were garnishing a lot of strange looks from the tables around them, but Teddy couldn’t remember when a first date – when a *date* had started off as well as this one. When he had felt so comfortable, so *happy* sitting across from someone. He couldn’t stop himself from grinning while Billy continued to laugh, and if he had a strange feeling that maybe Billy didn’t do this very often, didn’t go out and laugh, then it only made the evening more special. Made him want to be out with Billy like this even more. So what if Clarice had warned him that this was supposed to be a temporary thing – he wanted more of this, wanted a chance to get to know Billy properly. Now just to figure out how to make that happen.

*******

Clarice smiled as she caught sight of Teddy racing out the door, intent on not being late for his date. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed David lingering in the doorway leading from the kitchen to the living area and cocked her head to the side. “So, you sticking around for dinner or what? Sam said he’s tired of pizza so we’re thinking noodles.”

David hesitated for a moment before he entered the room and headed to the fridge. “Noodles sound good, anything spicy with shrimp, but I’m not running out for them.” His eyes narrowed behind his glasses, and Clarice had to resist the urge to roll her own; yes, yes, hazing was bad, they were all so mean. Wasn’t like they made him drink too much or beat him up or did anything truly nasty, and Teddy handled the teasing just fine. Hell, everyone but the mutant genius handled the mild pranking just fine, even poor Alani when her first mission had been in Anchorage during the winter.

Figuring she’d go see what everyone wanted and find a place that delivered, Clarice turned to leave when David called out to her. “Yeah?” She spun around to find him standing in front of the open fridge, a can of energy drink in his hand. “You change your mind on the noodles?”

“No, I just thought,” he shrugged as he closed the door to the fridge. “About Altman, you know the guy he’s going out with tonight?”

Oh, this might be interesting. Clarice tucked back a lock of hair falling onto her face and shook her head. “Just that he’s a local, and Teddy  got the speech about keeping it uncomplicated.”

David’s jaw clenched as he stared at the can held in his hands. “Yeah, but he’s new at this, you think he’ll manage that?”

Clarice laughed as she started for the living room. “A sweetheart like Teddy? Hell no, which is why if you wanted to look into this Billy Kaplan kid, I certainly won’t complain.” Not when Sam had said that Teddy was important to the mission somehow, and all Teddy could focus on today was his date tonight.

David didn’t say anything in return, but she knew him well enough, knew that if he’d brought up the matter, he was too interested to let it rest. Either Sam had said something to him or he didn’t like the chance of a newbie messing up a mission by becoming distracted, it didn’t really matter to her. They didn’t have an official reason to go digging into a civilian’s background… but David was good, was *more* than good, and what Genosha didn’t know wouldn’t hurt it.

*******

Hisako groaned as she leaned against the wall, her expression turning into a grimace as the rough paint caught at the hair pulled back into a ponytail. “How much longer do you think we have left?”

“At least two more hours.” Julian chuckled when she grimaced again. “Too bad Altman’s past the runner stage or we could ask him to fetch us some coffee. Though the kid’s such a go-getter, maybe he’ll still do it if you text him and ask nicely.” He fussed with a lock of dark hair that kept falling onto his face.

“I hear he’s out on a date,” she told her partner. “Don’t want to bother him and mess up a chance of him doing us a favor another night. You think maybe-“

Julian held up a gloved hand and frowned, his blue eyes narrowed as he stared down a darkened hallway. “Yeah, maybe,” he answered in a quieter tone, even though she hadn’t finished what she’d been saying.

Knowing him well enough to realize that he must have heard something, Hisako smiled as she began to concentrate, to summon her power but not *quite*. “Okay, so two double espressos,” she continued, also in a softer voice. “And maybe some scones.” Ah, there it was, a scraping sound as if something sharp was dragged along the floor. Considering the fact that it was after 9pm at night and there weren’t any classes in this part of the university, she doubted it was a wayward student. Dr. Wisdom-Pryde and her scary husband had left two hours ago, and the cleaning crew weren’t scheduled to be here until morning.

There was a sense of pressure in the air, a signal that Julian had activated his talent for force fields; when she pushed back with her hands, she could feel the familiar tingling sensation along the wall, so he was protecting the entrance to the lab. She had just nodded to him when the scraping sound was louder, and all of a sudden what appeared to be several very tall, very broad dark shapes rushed out of the darkness.

“I got left,” she shouted as she fully activated her talent, the world going red as the armor formed around her. Even with the protection, she felt the impact of one of the dark shapes slamming into her, before she leveraged her right arm free and *swung*, reveling in the fight, in seeing the creature fly through the air away from her. Another one took its place, its face oddly smooth as if it wasn’t a real being, and she lashed out as well, punching at it while it attempted to slice  through her armor, to reach her with what appeared to be razor sharp claws. A knee to the gut had it bent over, and then she shoved it to the floor and made sure it stayed there.

Another shape when flying past, a victim of Julian’s psionic blast. “No, sir, we’re holding steady. Might be some minor damage to the external structure.” Ah, sounded as if he had contacted Guthrie to let him know what was happening here. “Yes, sir, we’ll leave one of them more or less intact.” Another psionic blast slammed an attacker into the wall, causing cracks to spread out from the impact. “You hear that?”

“Yeah, yeah, let me stop pounding this one’s… well, I think its face into the floor.” She got off of it when it seemed to stop struggling. “Boss on his way here?”

“Yes.” Julian appeared to be using his talent to keep the other two creatures pinned to the wall. “Wasn’t there four of them?”

“Shit, yeah. You still got the room sealed?” She stomped on the creature’s head just to be certain and looked around, but didn’t see the missing one. “Where the hell did it go?” It would help if there was a bit more lights; while searching for some sort of power source, she noticed that there was a dark shape moving on the ceiling. “Fuck, it’s above you!”

Readying to jump at the thing, she startled it into leaping at Julian before it was ready, so it was off on its attack. Still, it messed with her partner’s concentration and caused him to relax the psychic hold he was using to pin the other two creatures, and all of a sudden the four of them were racing back the way they’d come. She and Julian gave chase, but when they rounded the corner after the dark shapes… they came across an empty hallway.

“How is this possible?” Hisako risked willing away her armor so she could better examine everything around her; there was nothing, no sign of damage, no broken windows or doors, nothing. The only thing she could find… “do you smell something?” She inhaled a deep breath and thought there was a hint of fresh cold air, of snow.

Julian panted a little and shook his head. “No, I’m thinking of how Sam’s going to have our asses when he gets here and finds out we let those bastards get away.” His face was flushed and damp with sweat. “Come on, I need to get back there, I can’t be this far away from the force field.”

Hisako wanted to keep searching, to see if she could track down that elusive scent, but they couldn’t take the risk that this was some sort of feint, that the enemy was using it as a diversion and breaking into the lab right now. “Okay.” It was bad enough they let those four get away, Guthrie really would have their heads if any of the research went missing.

Still, why did she think it felt colder in this hallway?

*******

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go. A little more POV this time to help round out things, and again, working toward more plotty stuff. And yay, more Billy/Teddy finally! Though Tommy and Kate are a lot of fun, too. 
> 
> Anyway, hopefully no too many mistakes in this chapter, as it's not beta'ed and I had so much trouble w/ the doc program as I was doing the final read-through. Grrr.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's back! Sorry for the long wait, but yes, this story is still active. Just caught up in writing other stuff, but still working on this and hoping to get the remaining chapters out a little faster.
> 
> Thank you so much for the kudos and comments left so far, they do give me a kick in the butt to get the next chapter out (wonderful thing, guilt!).

*******

The world before him was a sphere of pastels, of pinks and blues and lilacs, of pretty little whorls that moved in lazy twists and rosettes, so cute that it made Billy sick to his stomach. He poked at it with a hand surrounded with vibrant blue just to see what would happen, and felt a guilty pleasure when the world spun about in a frantic manner, the colors whipping about like some abstract painting.

“Well, I think you just jumpstarted the evolutionary chain by a few hundred years.”

“Huh?” Billy jerked his hand away and glanced around as if he could catch sight of ‘DV’. “What do you mean?”

There was silence for several heartbeats before he received an answer. “What has you here in such a… ‘pissy’, I believe the word is, mood? Something go wrong tonight?”

Distracted from the pastel world, Billy floated into the darkness as he tugged the cloak tighter around his body. “Yes. No. Sorta.” He hated how he was so indecisive about things, even when talking to his own subconscious. “It’s… I shouldn’t be bothered by how the date ended, right? I mean, it seemed real, Teddy’s excuse to leave. Everything was going fine until he got the call, and he looked upset about having to go to work.” Billy’s teeth bit into his bottom lip as he recalled the events.

“A date.” Was it Billy or did the planets appear to glow a little brighter while the darkness around them grew a little more overwhelming as DV’s voice took on a disapproving tone? “Let me guess, with the dashing young man of the free coffee?”

Why did his own subconscious side with Tommy? Maybe it was time for Billy to see a psychiatrist or something. “It was fun.” He huddled a little more beneath the cape. “He treated me to sushi and dessert and we were headed to Pierson’s so I could get us coffee when work interrupted.”

“Hmm, are you *sure* that it was work? And not just a friend offering… oh, what do they call it? A ‘lifeline’?”

Billy hunched over even more and picked at the soft material of his cloak. “But we were having fun. We were laughing and everything.”

“Well, *you* were,” DV assured him. “Perhaps he was just biding his time, knowing that he wouldn’t have to pretend for very long, or perhaps….”

“Perhaps?” Billy hated how his chest hurt, how he couldn’t help but replay every moment of the date with Teddy through his head now. “Perhaps what?”

DV’s ‘voice’ turned contemplative. “Perhaps he wanted to leave you anticipating more. Feeling ‘incomplete’. Maybe this one is… ah yes, you call them ‘players’, I believe. He’ll parcel out his time little by little, string you along, get what he wants from you and….” DV paused as if he sensed the pain growing inside of Billy, or maybe it was the way Billy’s magic flared and fizzled. “Oh Imp, so powerful yet so naïve. What you deserve is someone worthy of you, someone equal to you.”

“To what, an idiot?” Billy’s hands sparked like fireworks in the darkness. “Who deserves to put up with someone like *me*?” What if DV was right? What if Teddy was just looking for some naïve fool to string along while he was stuck in Genosha? He could have *anyone* he wanted, so why was he wasting his time with *Billy*? “I should have known better, should have figured it out after seeing how everyone stared at him, how-“

“Hush.” Just the one word, but ‘spoken’ with enough power that Billy was shaken out of his negative thoughts and forced to stare out at nothing. “You might not see what makes you so worthy of any sort of pursuit, and this… this ‘Teddy’ might underestimate your value as well, but you, dear Imp….” Billy lurched through the air, the motion sending him in a slow spin, as he felt an immaterial, cold touch to his left cheek. “Oh you are a prize beyond words. One day I’ll prove it to you.”

A jagged laugh escaped him as he raised his hand to trace along that phantom caress. “I’m going crazy – the only person who really likes me is my own mind.”

“Whoever said I was a figment of your own imagination, hmm?”

Billy’s head jerked up at that statement, at the humor and satisfaction in the deep, slightly mocking voice he’d come to depend on and even care for during these dreams. “But… how..? It can’t….”

There was another phantom touch, this one knocking back the hood of his cloak and rustling through his hair. “Not now, Imp. All will be revealed at the right time. Just know for now that someone believes in you, that someone is here for you, even as those who smile at you so sweetly wear false masks.”

Billy opened his mouth to say… to say what? But those phantom hands cupped his face and it was as if the cold *poured* into him; he stilled for a moment as the chill took away the pain, took away the need for thought and then his magic reacted, it began to burn hot and violent until he felt torn between the cold and the heat, felt as if the two were tearing him apart and… and… and then something inside of him just *clicked*, just took the two and accepted it and his magic burned even hotter.

“Oh yes, you will be *glorious!*, my Imp.”

All that mattered to Billy was burning, burning forever, burning and burning and….

*******

Wanda woke up, the sheets tousled around her and her hair falling onto her face from all the tossing about she’d done during the night. There was the vestiges of a dream, something about a dark shadow that had loomed over her… no, her *boys*. She sat up in bed, the left strap of her linen nightgown falling down her shoulder, and frowned at the sense of anxiety that the dream left clinging to her even in the waking world; she detested feeling as if she had failed her boys in some way, even if only in her mind.

There was the sound of soft footsteps and the door to her bedroom creaked open. “Mah lady? Ah, you… you should see this.” Rahne stared past the barely opened door with green eyes gone wide, an anxious expression on her pretty face and her red hair bristled despite its short length.

Wondering if there was a reason why the dream still lingered, Wanda swung her legs about from the bed. “Yes, what is it?” She made to stand, and Rahne hurried into the room to fetch her the red cashmere robe from the lounge chaise. “The garden, mah lady. It’s… well, Prince William is here.” Rahne’s hands trembled as she assisted in sliding the robe onto Wanda’s shoulders.

Wanda jerked the belt around her waist with more effort than necessary and nodded to the girl. “I’ll look after him.” When Rahne took a hesitant step after her, she shook her head. “No, stay inside.” If there was something wrong with William, if he… well, the last thing her poor boy needed was someone who showed open fear of him nearby. “Do *not* go to my brother or father, do you understand?” When Rahne didn’t respond right away, Wanda repeated it with more force. “Do you *understand*?”

“Yes, mah lady?” Rahne wrung her hands together, clearly torn between whom she should obey, but she nodded in the end; Wanda was the one who had accepted her as her servant, who kept her close and refused her father’s offer of someone ‘more proper’.

“It’ll be fine,” she assured the girl. “William… he’s just having one of his moods and needs to talk to me. He’ll be fine in a few minutes, so prepare some tea and biscuits, please.” She smiled at Rahne until the girl lost some of her nervousness and nodded.

“Yes, ma’am.” Rahne gave her a low bow and scurried out of the room, as if grateful to go hide in the kitchen for a bit. Meanwhile, Wanda sighed as she combed back the curls falling onto her face and prepared to face her youngest son.

There was still a hint of sunrise left in the sky, faint streaks of orange and red, and the color helped to add to the magical image William made surrounded by all of the flowers, some of them surreal with their vibrant hues – it looked as if he had increased the new additions. He was wearing that red cloak of his, and despite its voluminous folds she could see that his power… ‘leaked’ from him, a blue glow emanating from his pale skin as he floated several inches from the ground with his legs crossed. His head was bowed, his unruly hair, so much like hers, falling about his face as his attention appeared focused on something below him or in his lap.

“William?” She took a step forward and realized that she’d forgotten her slippers, but the grass in the garden was lush and soft beneath her feet, only slightly damp from the night’s dew. “What brings you here so early?”

“Mother.” William’s head remained bowed for a few more seconds, and her breath caught at how… how *distant* he sounded just then. “I was going to ask your help with something, but I figured it out myself.” He finally looked up at her, and her breath caught anew to notice that his eyes, his lovely eyes that were just like hers, were a pure and shining blue.

“Fu-figure what out?” Her hands clenched at the belt of her robe as she stared at her son, at the blank look on his usually animated face.

“How to make more playmates for Tails.” A slight frown turned down the corners of William’s lips as he held out his cupped hands, and Wanda realized that there was the glowing blue and white fox curled up on it from the other night – that there were in fact several more ‘foxes’ running about and laying down in the grass near William. “I didn’t like the thought of him being alone.” There was something wistful in his tone just then.

“Oh… how, how clever.” Wanda was careful of her steps as she approached her son, mindful of the small creatures. “How many are there?”

“Four of them.” William leaned over to set the fox he was holding down on the ground, and it made a high-pitched yipping sound as it ran toward one of its companions. “They seem to like it here.” For the first time since she’d arrived, he appeared to show some true emotion, a bit of guilt. “I’m sorry, I probably should have asked first, right? But once I started making them, they were so happy to have the space to run around in and everything.” He scratched at his head as a sheepish grin formed on his lips.

So pleased to see signs of her son returning, of breaking through the chilly façade that must have terrified Rahne, Wanda smiled as she checked the ground first before sinking down to sit next to him. “It’s fine, you can leave them here.” She laughed as one of the creatures ran over her bare foot, a light, tickling sensation due to its tiny paws. “They amuse me.”

“Thank you.” He bit into his bottom lip as he glanced at the foxes. “I’m sure Tommy would have complained if he went into the closet and found more of them.” His hands clenched around the thick material of his cloak, the blue glow flaring for several seconds.

Wanda reached out to grab his right hand, and caught her breath again at the feel of power, of energy that ran through her fingers and up her arm at the touch; it wasn’t painful, just a surprise and oddly invigorating. In all of the time since William had come into his talent, it had never once hurt her, not even when he’d struggled to learn what they had thought to be the odd ‘electrical’ sparks. “Thomas doesn’t like them?” Was that why he was here, behavior so unusual and radiating power enough to make even Father wary?

William’s teeth worried at his lip for a moment longer. “He doesn’t come out to say it, but he….” William waved his left hand about, a trail of blue following behind it for several seconds despite the light of day. “Funny, how he can show off his talent all the time, can run about here or there, can blow up things but I’m supposed to just sit around all day and do nothing?” A hint of rancor crept into his voice. “I’m supposed to *be* nothing?”

She went up on her knees so she could reach out and brush back the full hood, then combed her fingers through William’s tousled hair. “Is that what has you so upset? That Thomas doesn’t respect your talent?” William stilled at the first touch to his hair, then shuddered after a few seconds.

“No,” he breathed out as he sank down to the ground and rested his head on her shoulder, his body tense and thrumming with that electrifying power. “It’s….” His hands, still shrouded in blue, came up to cover his face.

“William… you know you can tell me anything,” she chided as she continued to stroke through his hair.

“I know,” he mumbled, and after a few more seconds let his hands drop. “I went on a date last night.”

At first Wanda thought that she misheard him, and then she recalled what Pietro had told her, that it was important for the boys to remain at home, to be safe. Her first impulse was to ask ‘how’, and then ‘why’… but she knew her boys, knew *William*, and so bit her tongue as she put her thoughts in order.

“Well, how did it go?” She tucked her head against his and gave him a hug as he groaned. “That bad?”

There was more silence and then William slumped against her; during it one of the foxes began to climb upon her son’s cloak. “It… it started out okay, but then he got a call and claimed he had to leave. He’s here for work. On Genosha, I mean.” There was something off to his voice, something doubtful.

Wanda wanted to know the boy’s name so she could ask for a background check, but that would ruin things, wouldn’t it? Her father and brother would know immediately what was going on and William would be so angry. “Is he nice?”

William picked up the fox and ran a finger along its back, which caused the creature to yip in excitement. “I thought so – he’s funny and, well, yeah.” A hint of red stained her son’s cheeks as he paid an awful lot of attention to the fox.

Ah, so that’s how it was, Wanda told herself as she hugged him again. “But despite him being ‘funny’ and nice, you’re upset?”

“Because he bailed on me.” William’s chin jutted out as he set the fox back down. “What if he-“

“What if he got a call from work and had to leave?” Wanda knew how her son’s mind worked, knew how he could be his own worst enemy at times; she didn’t understand how Thomas could be so confident and William… well, not, but she refused to let him ruin something before it even began. Not when this was the first time that she knew of him even trying to be social, of behaving like a normal teenager. “You’re being careful, right? He doesn’t know who you are?”

The questions caused her son to blink a little as he looked at her. “Uhm, yeah.” He motioned around him with his glowing left hand. “It’s… yeah. Aren’t you supposed to be mad at me?”

She smiled as she brushed aside the bangs falling into his eyes and was relieved to see that while they were still blue, it was only the irises that glowed with the unnatural color now; slowly but surely her son was returning to her. “It may have been *ages* ago, but I remember what it was like to be a teenager.” She gave him an impish grin. “How do you think you came into being?”

That prompted a distressed look from him, as well as a gagging sound. “Don’t want to know!”

“Not as if I was going to share *that* much,” she teased before becoming serious once more. “Still, as long as you’re careful, and I know you well enough that you will be, then… have a little fun.” She brushed the back of her fingers along his left cheek, which for some reason made him stare off in the distance. “Give this young man a chance – it may very well be that he has a good excuse for leaving you early last night. I fail to see how anyone could walk away from someone as handsome as you, after all.”

That shook him from the reverie and caused another blush. “You’re my mother, you have to say that.”

“Mother, yes, but not blind.” William might not be the traditional definition of handsome, but there was something to him, something that shone through the more he came into his power, the more he learned to hone his will, that combined with his looks and demeanor to draw the eye in and keep it captivated. “Which is why I choose to believe last night might have been a misunderstanding.” And if not… well, Wanda knew several members of the guard who would be more than willing to teach a young man a lesson for daring to play with her son’s heart. “Now come, let’s allow these dear things to settle in properly and have some tea. I’m feeling a bit thirsty.” She grasped at William’s hands as she rose up to her feet.

He rose up with her, the guilty expression back on his face. “Ah, yeah, sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up like this.” His cloak settled around him, but she caught a flash of what appeared to be a t-shirt and sweats beneath it, as if he hadn’t bothered to dress properly before coming to visit.

“It’s fine, I’m always pleased to see you. Now, tea.” She slipped an arm beneath the warm, heavy cloak and linked it with his. “There should be biscuits, but if you want to magic me some more of those delicious croissants, I won’t complain.”

That prompted a weak laugh from her son. “I think I can manage something.”

“Good.” She wriggled her toes in the grass as they headed back toward her quarters, and hoped that she could chase away all of the blue glow before William left her for the day.

*******

Teddy couldn’t quite stifle the groan as he glanced at his watch for what had to be about the hundredth time that morning.

“What? Don’t tell me you’re that eager to go fetch coffee.”

He sighed as he rubbed at the back of his head and shrugged. “Well, at least I’ll be on break then,” he admitted to Clarice.

“Oh for –“ She pinched the bridge of her nose and appeared to make a big deal of taking a couple of even breaths. “You’re still going on about this? If I’d known it was going to be such a massive headache, I would have spared calling you in and breaking your poor widdle heart.” As soon as she let go of her nose, she glanced around and lashed out to punch him in the arm – which *hurt*. For someone at least fifty… well, maybe he should go with more pounds than that just in case she picked up mind reading at some point….

“But he’s not answering my texts,” he tried to explain. “Maybe he’s really upset, or maybe something happened to him on the way home last night.”

Clarice rolled her eyes as she folded her arms over her chest. “Please, I’m sure it would be on the news if something happened to your little boyfriend.”

“Unless they didn’t find him yet.” Teddy tugged on one of his earrings as the worry set in. “Maybe he ran into someone he shouldn’t have, or maybe he got into trouble with his grandfather. From the little Billy said, I got the feeling that the old man’s really strict and might not be in favor of him dating.”

“Or maybe he’s getting back at you for ditching him and is making you squirm.” Clarice tapped her nails against her upper arms as she shook her head, the sound annoying as they hit the dense fabric of the uniform. “Which I have to give him credit, he’s doing a great job. Bet you’ll be groveling to him the next time you speak.”

“Well I do owe him something.” Teddy gave his earring one more tug before he forced his hand away; last night had been going so well, had been fun and revealing and… well, one of the best dates he’d ever had, and just as they were about a block away from Pierson’s, his phone had rang to tell him to get his ass back to base because there had been an attempted break-in at the lab. As bad as it had been to receive such a call, he’d been left stuttering and blushing as he tried to come up with some sort of suitable excuse to tell Billy, who had first stared at him with worry and then obvious doubt as Teddy attempted to explain that there was an emergency at work and he *had* to leave. While Teddy had promised that he’d make it up to Billy, his new boyfriend’s expression had become shuttered and he’d pulled up the hood to his shirt while shrugging off everything, had told Teddy that he hoped things would work out and turned around to walk away. Another message had distracted Teddy for a moment, and by the time he’d looked up to call out to Billy about offering to pay for a taxi home, Billy had just… vanished.

And now the silent treatment; Billy had warned him last night that there were times when he couldn’t answer Teddy, that his grandfather… well, his grandfather was old-fashioned and held a tight rein over the family, so Teddy tried not to worry too much. But it was after ten in the morning, surely Billy could have responded by now?

He got another smack for his troubles, which made him turn to glower at his partner. “Look sharp – Wisdom is on the warpath today and the last thing you want is for him to come out here and find you all mopey. I doubt he’s going to care about your boyfriend problems when some alien creatures are trying to steal his wife’s research.”

“Yeah, but they didn’t, thanks to Julian and Hisako.”

“Those two didn’t manage to catch any of them, either, so he figures he has a right to bitch.” Clarice rolled her eyes again as if to show that she thought the man was being an asshole, too, but since their team leader had spent a good half an hour chewing out Julian and Hisako last night, there wasn’t much more they could say on the matter.

“Fine.” Teddy straightened up and did his best to school his expression, the entire time mentally composing what his next voicemail to Billy would say – should he grovel some more? Or play it cool and leave the onus on Billy to reach out to him? There wasn’t that much more he really could explain about what had happened last night, other than the loose cover story about servers crashing and them needing him to assist at the labs while they ran out to purchase some new equipment. It felt really bad to be lying to someone he thought he was beginning to care about, especially when he wanted a relationship built on trust, but… well, he didn’t want Billy to be hurt. Well, hurt any more than the fact that Teddy might up and leave at any moment, as soon as the assignment was over.

Part of him wondered if he should just tell Billy that this wouldn’t work out, that he was a really nice guy but Teddy’s work would be too busy to let them hang out… but he thought about how gorgeous Billy looked when he laughed, when his brown eyes lit up and his dark hair fell onto his face, the way Billy bit his bottom lip when nervous or tugged on his bangs… There were all those little gestures Billy made, and Teddy was beginning to memorize them, to get them down – yet he wanted to learn them all. He wanted so badly to know what it felt like to hold Billy in his arms and to kiss him, to see if Billy would become still then or keep fidgeting, to see if he felt as fragile as he sometimes looked or would be warm and solid beneath his hands. Sometimes… sometimes he didn’t believe Billy was real, not after this past year.

So when his phone vibrated to let him know he had a message, he jumped in response and nearly shifted out of the stress, his uniform ‘groaning’ as it stretched to cover his enhanced muscles. “Sorry,” he mumbled as he controlled his talent, the same time he shoved his right hand into his pocket as if to grab his phone.

“Oh, go ahead,” Clarice told him, a disgusted expression on her face. “Run out and get me a cinnamon latte and a chocolate scone while you’re at it.”

He beamed at her as he pulled out his phone. “Thank you so much!”

“Anything so I don’t have to see your sickening face. Blech.”

Aw, he knew she adored him, so much so that he didn’t ask for any money for the coffee run this time, he just hurried down the hall while he thumbed on his phone. He nearly ran into a wall when he noticed that the text was from Billy, and had to slow down a little as he tapped on the message.

It wasn’t much of a reply to the ten or so he’d sent, but it *was* a reply. ‘Got home okay, been hanging out w/ my Mom this morning. Just saw your messages’ and what looked to be a sleepy fox face. Billy had talked a little about his mother, something about how she had some type of chronic disease or something, which was why his grandfather raised him, and despite not saying much, Teddy had picked up on how his boyfriend adored the woman – it was another thing they had in common. So he felt a little better about being ignored if he’d been blown off because Billy had spent some quality time with his own mother. Taking a chance, he dialed Billy’s number and prayed that the other boy answered.

The phone rang a few times, and Teddy’s heart was in his throat the entire time until it got picked up instead of going into voicemail yet again. “Uhm, hello?” It was Billy, yet he sounded a little off, as if he was distracted.

“Billy!”

“Yeah, one sec.” There was a muffled sound and some rustling, and Teddy thought he heard Billy tell someone to go away, but it didn’t really sound like Billy, it sounded like someone much older and colder.

“But Si-“

“*Go* *away*.” Teddy came to a halt and stared at his phone in confusion, because that *definitely* didn’t sound like Billy, it had been a voice without any emotion at all, just pure authority, and then there was more rustling. “Okay.” Billy was back on the phone, at least Teddy assumed it was his boyfriend, but he sounded distant, sounded ‘off’ once more.

“Uhm, everything all right there?” Teddy resumed walking as he tried to figure out what had happened on the other end of the phone.

“Yes just… someone being a bit of a pest.” Now Billy sounded more tired than anything.

“Okay.” Teddy let out a slow breath as he caught sight of an exit door. “Hopefully you’re not thinking the same thing about me.”

The other end of the line went silent for several seconds, during which Teddy felt his stomach drop. “I don’t know, what should I consider five voicemails and thirteen text messages?” There was a hint of something to Billy’s voice, dare Teddy consider it humor?

“Ah, persistence? I think it’s persistence, which is a good quality,” Teddy pointed out. “I’ve seen it on a bunch of cross-stitches and everything.”

“And not a bit stalker-ish?”

“Nope, nothing about persistence being stalker-ish, cross-stitches never lie,” Teddy swore as he smiled. “Would needlepoint steer you wrong?”

Billy was quiet for a few more seconds, and then there was a faint chuckle. “I suppose not, but I’ve only had experience with knitting to go by.”

“Oh, don’t even go there, it’s all purling and so forth. You can never trust purling.” Teddy felt the tension in his chest ease when he heard another faint laugh. “So, I was thinking since it’s my fault that we had to cut things short last night, I owe you another dinner.”

There was more of the dreaded silence, and then Billy took an audible breath. “What if you get another call?”

Teddy wished that Billy was in front of him just then so he could see the other boy’s expressions; Billy was so expressive, so open with what he felt. “Look, I can’t promise you that there won’t, but I’m really hoping there won’t be another server crash or emergency any time soon.” There *better* not be after the way Julian and Hisako had kicked ass last night. “So come on, take pity on a poor guy who didn’t even get his promised cup of coffee?”

He thought he heard some more rustling and then Billy sighed. “All right, but I’m only agreeing because you’ve never had Mineo’s pizza. I can’t on good conscience allow you to go on living without having decent pizza.”

Teddy did a little jump upon being granted a second chance. “Yes! I mean, uhm, yeah, thanks, that sounds great.” He cleared his throat and ignored the weird looks he was being given. “So, ah, does five thirty sound all right?” Maybe if they met a little earlier, they could finish a date before something bad happened.

“Yeah, that’ll work. I’ll meet you at Mineo’s.”

Teddy wanted to ask if he could pick Billy up at his house, but something in Billy’s voice just then warned him not to push – maybe Billy’s grandfather wasn’t ready to meet him just yet. “All right, I’ll see you there.”

“Okay.” The line went dead.

Left staring at his phone for a couple of seconds, Teddy remembered that he was out in public and put it away before he ran into someone. So he had another date. He would do everything he could tonight to ensure that things went right, that Billy didn’t regret giving him a second chance.

*******

“Oh yeah, definitely get that one.” Tommy sent his approval via text of Kate’s latest fashion rampage through Hammer Bay’s high-end shopping district then reached for his energy drink for another sip – and nearly dropped it when Billy reappeared out of thin air in a shower of blue sparks. “Uhm, hi.” He sat up higher on the couch and frowned since his brother was covered head to toe in that weird red cloak of his and didn’t bother with a reply. “So, you off blowing up rocks this morning or did you manage to get lucky last night? Doing a walk, well, teleport of shame?”

The blue glow around Billy flared at the joke, enough that Tommy shielded his eyes for a second, but at least it made his brother lower the hood of his cloak – not that it was that much of an improvement. Billy looked… he looked like Grandfather did during the Memorial ceremony, or whenever they heard about some human uprising; he looked *cold*, he looked inhuman, he looked utterly cut off from anything resembling emotions whatsoever. Fuck, but that wasn’t a good sign. “What-“

Before Tommy could ask what the hell was going on, there was a furious knock at the door, a rapid staccato which immediately preceded the door being flung open; Tommy jumped to his feet just in time as Uncle Pietro burst into the room, intent on getting in the way of the old man yet before he even took more than three steps a wall of translucent blue blazed into being. Oh yeah, someone was feeling his oats today, wasn’t he?

“Billy?”

“William!” Uncle Pietro’s green eyes went wide as he barely stopped in time to keep from slamming into the ‘wall’, an expression of shock in his face that was quickly covered with what looked an awful lot to Tommy to be false bravado. “Explain yourself!”

Billy, now floating in the air with his cloak undulating around him as if caught in a light breeze, rotated around to face their uncle. “Explain what?” He didn’t sound angry or confused, just… bored. Here they had a pissed off uncle in their room and Billy had used his talent against him, and Billy sounded *bored*. Tommy didn’t know if he should kiss the idiot or smack him, but that terrible expression was still on his brother’s face so he decided to just observe for now.

The lack of a response seemed to throw off Uncle Pietro, too, since he stood there with mouth agape for a couple of seconds, and then drew in a shuddering breath. “You teleported Caliban into the cove!” He was shouting so loud that his voice cracked on the last two words.

“Oh, that.” Billy crossed his legs so he could ‘sit’ in the air and managed to sound even more bored.

“Wait, what? You dunked Caliban? Way to go, CC!” Tommy grinned at his brother, his smile wavering when Billy stared back at him as if he was nothing – stared back with *blue* eyes.

“Do *not* encourage him!” Uncle Pietro jerked his gloved hands through his hair as he glared at Billy. “You do not treat fellow mutants that way! You do not treat *staff* that way! You-“

Billy held up his right hand, a hand surrounded by blue sparks so bright that it hurt to stare at it for more than a second or two, and the words caught in Uncle Pietro’s throat – Tommy had never seen anyone other than Grandfather cut off their uncle like that. “He was a nuisance,” Billy said in a too quiet voice. “He bothered me. I don’t want him following me around any more, or next time it won’t be the cove.” He tilted his head to the side as he considered his hand, seemingly unbothered by the sparks. “Next time it’ll be farther, maybe somewhere cold.” A slight smile crept over his face as if he found that thought amusing.

Okay, dweeby Billy was threatening to send people off to the North Pole or something, maybe Tommy had woken up in some alternate world. Judging from the stunned expression on Uncle Pietro’s face, he wasn’t the only one trying to figure out what the hell was going on here.

“He’s there for your own protection.”

Now Billy’s eyes narrowed, the blue in them blazing brighter and spreading to encompass even the whites. “I don’t *need* protection.” The sense of power, of magic, of… of whatever it was that Billy controlled, grew overwhelming inside the room. “Remember that.” Then he flicked his right hand and the wall surged forward to shove Uncle Pietro out of the room, even slamming the door shut behind him.

The room was eerily quiet after that, with Tommy wondering if he would be next. Then he remembered that this was Billy, was the dweeb who cried when his favorite characters were killed, whose idea of a good time was to curl up in bed with a *book* of all things – or worse, a *comic book*, who had been depressed for weeks when Grandfather hadn’t allowed them to have a kitten…. Yeah, it was Billy. A supped up Billy, but Billy. “You couldn’t have done that when I had my camera out? I mean, the look on his face as he got shoved out the door was *priceless*.”

Billy turned toward him, for a moment his face still that emotionless mask, and then it began to crumble as he slowly sank to the floor. “Ah, yeah, right?” His hands scrubbed at his face as he sat hunched over, the cloak pooled out around him, and shuddered. “What am I doing?” He sounded so confused just then, so broken, that Tommy only hesitated a second before racing over to his brother.

“I don’t know, other than the whole overkill with the power thing, I think you’re doing all right.” He knelt beside Billy and reached out to hold on to his shoulders; it had been a while since he’d done this, since Billy had been in an obvious need of reassurance, and for a moment he almost picked up the idiot and went running for their mother. Then Billy shuddered again so Tommy pulled him in close. “You’re right, we don’t need protection. It’s about time that Uncle and Grandfather realize that.”

Billy sniffed as little as he relaxed against Tommy. “I really wanted him to go away. Uhm, both of them.”

“Well, you were such a bad ass.” Tommy thumped his brother on the back. “Finally can tell we’re related.”

There was a long, weary sigh and Billy pulled free a little. “Maybe I stopped zapping people away too soon.” He rubbed at his face a little, but it was more as if in weariness than in desperation.

Tommy grinned as he stood up. “Come on, you know you adore me.”

“Yeah, I know I’m going crazy now.” Billy sighed as he stood up as well. “Shouldn’t you be out harassing other people or something?” He reached up to undo the clasp to the cloak and let it float away to rest on the back of the chair. “I think it’s safe to say that no one’s going to bother us for… oh, a week or so.”

Tommy rolled his shoulders as he made his way back to the couch and his phone. “I won’t complain – say, since we should be left alone for a while, then you can do a favor for me.” He ignored Billy’s snort at that comment. “Kate wants to do a double date now that you actually have some sort of social life.” For some reason, Billy’s talent flared up and caused the room to be filled with a blue glow. “What, don’t tell me you crashed and burned already?” Did he have to track down the surfer dude and kick his head in for messing with his baby brother?

Billy jerked his hand through his hair so quickly that it stood up for a couple of seconds. “Uhm, no. *No*.” A slight flush overcame his face as he waved his hands about in the air. “It’s okay, we have a date tonight. Another date. The two of us.” He lowered his head and peeked at Tommy through the wavy strands. “Alone. I mean, the two of us alone.”

“Sheesh, I get it. Way to go, CC, you’re a man-killer.” He rolled his eyes as he dropped down onto the couch. “Just make sure to bury the body extra deep.”

“Not funny!” Billy sent a wave of sparks in his direction and made a chocking sound. “It’s not- I mean, I’m not, gah!” He threw his glowing hands up in the air and shook his head. “Why does Kate even want to date you in the first place?”

“Stunning good looks and overpowering animal magnetism,” was Tommy’s instant response.

It wasn’t nice, the look of extreme disbelief sent his way by his own baby brother, but somehow Tommy would live on. “Right.” Billy magicked away the collection of candy wrappers that Tommy had scattered about while texting with Kate and appeared ready to head off to the bedroom. “Not about to get in the way of… *that*. Or see it. Or even think about it, thanks. I’ve nightmares enough from the women throwing themselves at Uncle Pietro.”

“Yeah, the ‘silver fox’ fangirls are rather scary.” Tommy did some shuddering of his own. “So what, you don’t want to hang out with your brother? See how a real date is done instead of… how do two geeks go about their mating ritual? Dance around a box of comics while flashing their first editions and collectible figurines?”

That earned him another shower of sparks, but it was so worth it. “Ha, ha, you’re about to beat Caliban to Antarctica,” Billy snarled. “And no, we’re headed to Mineo’s for pizza.” Billy sent some more sparks, well, because he could before he stomped off to the bedroom, and judging from the way the door glowed blue for a few seconds, Tommy had the impression that he was exiled from the room for the time being.

Oh well, at least his little brother was predictable on some fronts. Ignoring the most recent photos that Kate had sent him for the moment, he sent her a text that they had dinner plans, and hoped that she didn’t mind carbs.

*******

Eric stared at the stack of papers on his desk and wondered when things had become so… so banal. When his days were filled with signing documents, making small-talk with strangers and smiling for photos, when he spent the majority of his time trapped behind a desk, when the thought of a simple dinner alone filled him with joy. It was a far cry from the days of starvation and fear, of endless fighting and running, of despair over ever knowing peace… and yet there was something to be said for those days, of knowing that he was truly alive, of having something to hope for, to *fight* for, when all he was now was a glorified figurehead. A figurehead who signed his name to an endless stack of paper and whose most daunting task it seemed at the moment was choosing a theme for this year’s gala. Oh, if only Charles could see him now….

Picking up the proposal that Lorna had put together before she’d left for Wakanda, he was about to sign it when Pietro burst into the room, expression thunderous and motions jerky as he bent in a hasty bow. “Father, you *have* to do something about him!”

Casting the pen aside with a casual flick of his power, Eren propped his chin up with his left hand as he regarded his overwrought son. “I fail to see how I *have* to do anything,” he warned Pietro in a seemingly bland tone. “Although I am curious, what did Thomas do now?”

Pietro’s face flushed as he stood to attention, his movements still a far cry from their usual smooth flow. “It’s not Thomas this time – it’s William.” There was a rare note of distress in his voice as he spoke the younger twin’s name.

Mention of William made Eric sit up in his chair, his back resting against the comfortable padding. “William? What did he do?” It was unusual for the boy to act up… but there had been the display the other night at dinner, the flare of power that had made even Eric wary.

Seeing that he had Eric’s attention, Pietro began to pace around the room, his speed kept mostly under control but his gloved hands blurring now and then as he waved them about in the air. “Caliban was obeying orders – he reported that William was at Wanda’s this morning and followed him once he left her quarters.” There was a bite to Pietro’s voice which made it clear that he wasn’t pleased about William visiting his mother. “Not too long after that, he approached the boy and… well, William reacted in a most hostile manner. He insisted that Caliban leave him alone and then teleported him into the cove.”

For a moment Eric almost smiled upon hearing that, amused both at how powerful his grandson had become and the way he had chosen to deal with what he had considered an annoyance. “I assume that Caliban can swim?”

“Dammit, it’s not funny!” Pietro slashed his right hand through the air fast enough to cause a mini sonic boom. “Yes, the man can swim, but William defied us in that he knows that Caliban was assigned to him for his own safety! He cannot teleport people away just because… dammit, because he *wills* it!”

The amusement faded away as Eric made the pen float about in the air. “That’s just it, Pietro, he *can* do exactly that. He can do a great deal *more* than that.” He remembered the fox creature coming to life before his eyes, the way William had shone like a flame, the sense of awe he’d felt that very first time he’d stood before a young boy who had reached out with a hand wreathed in what appeared to be blue flames and made a toy cat shudder then become animated as if alive.

Pietro heaved several deep breaths as he pulled at his slicked back hair. “I went to his rooms to talk to him, and… he wasn’t himself, Father. He was… he wasn’t himself.” His hands fell to his sides as he shook his head. “He told me that Caliban was a nuisance and basically warned me that if the man continued to follow him, he’d send him somewhere far away, then forced me from the room. I haven’t been able to enter it since.”

Eric stared at his son as he considered what he’d just heard, the pen still floating about in the air; it wasn’t that much of a surprise, not since the day when he’d watched that toy appear to come alive. He had no idea where William’s talent had sprung from, why it had shown up in his bloodline… but he knew that it would continue to grow, that it wasn’t one to be relegated to parlour tricks and illusions. That was why he’d been so grateful that it was William and not Thomas who was so gifted, that it was the quiet twin, the one who resembled Wanda the most. William, while being a Lehnsherr, was kinder and gentler than himself, Pietro and Thomas, was more introspective. He didn’t seek out fights for the sake of fights, didn’t lash out first in fear of being hurt or want to take on the world because of some misplaced ego or sense of duty. So what had changed in the boy?

“You said that he had visited Wanda earlier?”

The question appeared to startle Pietro. “I… yes. Have you not heard anything that I said?”

Eric gave his son a quelling look for that tone of reproof. “Yes, I have, which is why I’m asking about Wanda.” When Pietro nodded in a suitably meek manner, he sighed and allowed the pen to rest on top of the desk. “Then perhaps it’s not as bad as you fear.”

“And why is that?” Pietro dared to take a couple of steps toward the desk, his hands clasped behind his back.

“Because if there was something truly wrong with William, she would have been here first.” Eric might not know his grandsons as well as he should, thanks to the pressing duties of running a country, but he knew his children. “She would finagle the guard to break down my door in one way or another and demand to know what was going on, what I’d done to him, and how I’d fix it.” He couldn’t hold back the proud smile at the thought of his daughter, his human daughter, and how she could be so deadly, so powerful when it came to those she loved. Ah, yes, she was the spitting image of Magda, body and spirit.

Pietro gave him a narrow look for several seconds before he tugged down on the black jacket of his tailored suit. “I hope for your sake that you’re correct, Father, because this… this cuckoo we’ve nursed in our home is turning into a proper cockatrice. Perhaps it’ll be your feathers he singes next.”

Eric leaned forward with his fingers steepled together as he regarded his son. “I never thought I’d hear you speak of your sister’s children like that.”

There was a look akin to shame on Pietro’s face as he glanced aside. “I never thought the day would come when I was helpless before one of them… and he’s still a child. Something to consider,” Pietro paused to execute a perfect bow, “my king.” He didn’t wait for a response before he fled the room in a black and silver blur.

Staring at the door for a minute or two after his son had left, Eric decided that there were more important matters worth his time than signing documents.

*******

“They’re adorable, ma’am!” Rahne laughed as she held out a tiny piece of raw meat, only for one of the foxes to leap up and snatch it away.

Wanda laughed as well, one of the foxes held cupped in her hands, its miniscule tongue lapping at her fingers for any remaining trace of meat. “I know! I’ll have to ask William to see what else he can make – the garden really comes alive with their presence.”

“Maybe some birds? They would be pretty.”

“Oh yes, or some butterflies. Imagine the colors he could create!” She smiled at the girl, grateful that Rahne had overcome the slight fear William had instilled in her earlier that morning.

They had just finished feeding the fascinating creatures when there was the faint creaking sound of the gate opening, and then Wanda’s father sauntered into her garden as if it were his own – it might be his land, his country but it was *not* his garden. She reached out to calm Rahne as the girl scrambled to her feet, face a scarlet blush and busy stammering out some sort of greeting, and then nodded. “Some tea would be nice.”

“Yuh-yes, mah lady.” Rahne took care as she stepped away because of the foxes, and then ran as if from a demon the rest of the way to Wanda’s quarters; Wanda supposed the poor girl was partially correct as she looked up at her father and noticed the frown on his face as he stared at the ground.

“What brings you here today?”

He didn’t seem to hear the question as he motioned at the foxes. “There’s more of them? Why are there more of them, and what are they doing here?”

Wanda sighed as she shooed one of the creatures off of her skirts and was careful as she stood up. “There are more of them because William believed that Tails was lonely and needed some companions, and they’re here because I like them.” She reached out to grasp her father’s left arm and ensured that he didn’t step on any of her new pets. “They’re very amusing, and I believe they’re scaring away the moles that were burrowing in my lilies.”

“You have magic foxes in your garden. A garden that’s filled with magic flowers.” Father covered his eyes with his hand for a moment as if attempting to come to terms with something. “I rule a kingdom of mutants and even I have trouble grasping this concept, Daughter.”

She gave his arm a slight smack before smoothing her hand over the rich red silk of the heavy tunic. “You need to get out more, then. I see nothing wrong with this situation.”

“Says the woman who barely leaves her magic garden.” Father sighed as they reached the small table and motioned for one of the chairs to move out enough for her to sit down, then pushed it back toward the table once she sat down in it with his own hands. “I’m recalling the stories of my youth and wondering if perhaps you’re not a changeling child.” Yet there was a slight smile on his lips as he teased her. “It would explain much.”

She waited for him to sit down across from her and leaned forward with her chin propped up on her palm. “Oh, about me or about my children?” Ah, his eyes narrowed slightly just then. “This is about my children, no?” It wasn’t often that he sought her out like this, especially during the day when he was so busy.

For a moment something akin to exhaustion settled on his still handsome face, only for it to be replaced by the usual stern expression he wore when he was dealing with matters of ‘state’. “With one of them in particular, I must admit.”

“William.” It didn’t take much to guess the answer to that, not after her son’s visit this morning and her father’s reactions to the foxes. She had to admit, it was a change from the usual complaints about Thomas’ antics.

Her father rested back in his chair. “Yes, William.” He turned to look out over the garden, and she knew he was gazing at the vivid flowers that William had gifted her with the other day, which she could smell so clearly with each breath she took. “I have to say, he is, as always, the devoted son.”

“He’s a good boy.” She was about to say something else when Rahne appeared, her face taut with tension, bearing a tray filled with a pot of tea, two teacups and a small tray of the remaining pastries that William had ‘fetched’ for her from Blé Sucré. As soon as the girl had set the tray down on the table, her hands trembling ever so slightly, Wanda patted her on the arm. “It’s all right, I’ll do the serving.” Rahne flashed her a grateful look before returning indoors.

Father sniffed a little as he surveyed the tray. “I don’t know why you insist on retaining the child, I can-“

“I like Rahne,” Wanda informed him as she checked the tea. “We get along well.”

“It’s not about ‘getting along,” he told her with a hint of reproach. “But very well, I will drop the subject.” He appeared annoyed at her constant refusal to accept more or ‘better’ servants, when Rahne was all she needed – if by some chance there was anything the girl couldn’t do, William and Thomas took care of her needs, and Pietro as well. “That’s not why I’m here.”

“No, you’re here about William.” She gave the tea a little longer to steep and pushed the plate full of madeleines toward him. “Why is that?”

He decided to answer her question with one of his own, a habit she detested. “Why did he visit you this morning?” When she stared at him with her jaw set, he sighed and reached out to stroke the back of her right hand. “Daughter… Wanda. He did something to upset Pietro today. It seems… there’s concern that his power is getting out of control. I thought it best to talk to you, to see what *you* think.”

A laugh slipped free as she pulled her hand away to settle it on her lap. “You talk to *me* about power?”

“No, I talk to you about your son.” There was a worried gleam in his grey eyes, a look she rarely saw on her father’s face. “If anyone knows about William, it’s you.”

She sat there in silence for several seconds before she sighed. “He was a little troubled this morning, but when he left here, he was fine. Did something happen to set him off?”

He looked aside as he picked up a madeleine. “Pietro said something about one of the guard following him around, which William took offense at for some rea-“

“Offense?” Wanda smacked her right hand against the table. “It was Caliban, wasn’t it? I often see him skulking around the gate when William comes to visit, no wonder my son was upset!”

There as a hint of her father’s ‘royal’ personality as his back stiffened and his chin lifted. “Daughter, I doubt I need to remind you that your son is a prince, and a very powerful mutant. He can be a target of any number of-“

“He doesn’t need a babysitter,” she insisted, uncaring that she had just cut him off again. “No wonder he’s so upset when he’s being stalked in his own *home*!”

“It’s for his own good!”

“How?” Wanda rose to her feet, both of her hands pressed against the table. “How is it for his own good? How can William feel anything but isolated and… and….” She felt dizzy from the strong wave of emotion, and the next thing she knew, she was seated in the chair with her father kneeling before her.

“Here, little one, drink this.” He pressed a cup of tea into her hands, the worried expression back on his face.

“Ah, I know it’s bad when you call me that.”

A slight smile dented the worry as he brushed back the curls falling on her forehead. “Well, you insisted that you weren’t so ‘little’… oh, I think when you turned sixteen? Even though you’ll always be my little one.” He helped her with the cup as she took a sip.

It was rare, moments like this when she felt as if it was her father before her and not the king, the man who had showed up that day so long ago when she and Pietro were starving and scavenging for food on the streets of Sibiu weeks after their mother had died. He had taken them in, given them shelter, and soon enough, a home where they would be safe. Yet she still remembered those awful times, the fear and the hunger, and wished to spare her sons the same suffering.

“You can’t raise William or Thomas up in fear,” she whispered once she finished the tea.

Her father sighed as he set the cup aside and then held her hands in his much larger ones. “I’m doing what I can to spare them that, I promise. I won’t let anyone harm my family.” The gentle expression he wore slowly began to harden into a familiar mask she had not seen for so long.

“I won’t let anyone harm my family,” he repeated as he rose to his feet. “And I won’t let anyone use William. Watch over him, Wanda.” He didn’t say anything else as he strode away, the gate opening before him with a flick of his hand.

She sighed as she watched him leave, before she could say anything about *him* using William, about *him* being the one to cause her children harm. Yet he wouldn’t see it that way, would he? Those who were the most driven never did.

“Mah lady?”

“I think I need to lie down for a little while,” Wanda told Rahne as the girl crept toward her. “If my brother comes by… ask him to visit another day.” She didn’t have the energy to put up with him right now.

“Yes, ma’am.” Rahne hesitated as she offered Wanda her arm. “And… and if it’s one of yahr sons?”

She smiled at the girl as she stood up, a little unsteady on her feet. “Them, I will see.” Though she hoped that William followed her advice and was out with that boyfriend of his, and Thomas… well, Thomas always found something to amuse himself with, didn’t he? As long as they both were safe.

*******

“Wow, just how much damage did you do today, Princess?”

Kate finished slipping on her sandals then crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, it’s not as bad as it looks.”

When Tommy finished gawking at the few – oh, all right, *many* shopping bags strewn across the room, she sighed and flicked a hand as if dismissing the evidence. “Cassie was being stubborn about letting me buy her things, and it was easier to slip in stuff for her if it seemed ‘minor’ compared to what I was getting. Some of that is for my sister, and a good bit of it will end up being donated to the local shelters.”

“Yeah, because it makes sense to wear… is that Saint Laurent? The homeless are going to *love* Saint Laurent.” Tommy rolled his eyes as he picked up one of the shirts.

“Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of the women shelters, and just because you’re down on your luck doesn’t mean you don’t deserve owning something nice.” She stomped over and snatched the shirt out of his hands. “These can help them get back on their feet, to look presentable for a job interview, and even if they want to just go turn them in to a consignment shop then the money will help them out,” she snapped. “Not everyone’s lucky enough to be born into a rich family, you know, and take for granted having designer clothes.”

He appeared ashamed for himself for a few seconds, and then summoned up his habitual cocky grin. “Well, at least it’s not McQueen. I dare any of them to pull off McQueen as well as you do.”

“You…” She let the shirt drop back into the bag and gave his left shoulder a gentle punch. “What’s wrong? You’re talking *fashion*, which is… oh, I don’t know, one of the signs of the apocalypse? That or alien mind control. You start telling me about stocks and bond rates and I know it’s alien mind control.”

He laughed and grabbed her by the hips to spin her around, the room a colorful blur for a few seconds before he set her back on her feet with a quick kiss to her nose. “You’re… you’re you, Kate. Never change, all right?”

“Why would I do such a thing, hmm?” She wiped at her nose as she gave him a curious look.

Tommy rocked on his heels a little as he rubbed at the back of his neck, an almost sorrowful expression on his face for a moment. “Because… argh, it’s messed up lately, okay?” He sighed and in a blur he was sprawled out on the couch. “Look, watch out tonight, all right?”

“How come?” She slipped her hands – well, fingers – into the pockets of her jeans. “We’re just meeting up with Billy tonight for a double date.”

There was a flash of something on Tommy’s face, but as usual, it was gone too quickly for her to catch. “Yeah, but… he was acting a bit odd this morning. Our uncle did something to piss him off.”

“Yeah, so? From what you tell me, your uncle makes you mad on an almost daily basis.”

Tommy grimaced and picked up a pillow to play with, to punch and spin around as he talked. “That’s just it, Billy doesn’t usually do ‘mad’. He might sulk and refuse to talk to you for a couple of hours, but he doesn’t act up like the rest of us.”

That sounded ‘mad’ to Kate, who was used to a lot of yelling in her family. “And what do you consider ‘mad’?”

Tommy was still for a moment, and then he used his power to explode the pillow will giving her a solemn gaze.

“Oh, yeah, the whole… power thing, right?” She stared at the feathers slowly drifting to the floor. “That could make things… yeah.”

“Exactly. Things – well, metal things – shake and move about around Grandfather and Aunt Lorna, Uncle and I get all twitchy, and all of us take to yelling because we *have* to let it all out or else. I guess you can say we’ve learned to not keep it all in, to release it verbally at least. Billy… well, he never seemed to have a temper so it wasn’t a problem.” Tommy watched the feathers float about and then there was another blur. A few seconds later, the feathers were gone, except for a large pile on the coffee table and he was once more seated on the couch.

Kate was trying to follow this, she really was, except it sounded as if she was only getting part of the story. “And now he has a temper?”

Tommy paused as he stared at the pile of feathers. “I… don’t know? More like he doesn’t care to hide away the fact that he’s bothered anymore.”

“Ah, I see. And you’re not used to that.” Kate went over to pick up a garbage can and then over to the coffee table, where she slowly pushed the feathers into it. “Sounds like to me that you got used to Billy being that way, and now you don’t know what to do with him when he’s being more like… well, the rest of the family.”

Tommy stared at her while she cleaned up the mess. “I… that’s not… well… okay, maybe?” He appeared sheepish as he shook his head. “You don’t pull your punches, do you?”

“Life’s taught me that you might only ever get the chance for one hit, so make it count.” That came out a little harsher than she’d intended, so she softened it with a smile. “Look, he’s your brother so you should know him best, I’m just giving you an outsider’s perspective.”

“True, but I’d like to see what you think of him. I just… hope he’s in a good mood tonight.”

“I don’t see why he wouldn’t be, what with the date and all.” She set the garbage can down and rested her hands on her hips. “Now, unless you’re going to destroy any more of the room, which you are paying for, thank you very much, shouldn’t we be going?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Tommy shoved himself off of the couch and offered her a flourished bow, his right hand extended. “You know, it’s getting rather difficult to tell who’s royalty here right about now.”

Kate sniffed as she rested her hand on his. “There’s a reason I’m called ‘Princess’ and you ‘Trouble’.”

Tommy laughed as he escorted from the room.

*******

Teddy double-checked his phone for directions, uncertain that he’d turned onto the right street; this close to the palace most of the shops had a high-end air to them, but he’d been directed toward a small cul-de-sac where the store fronts were older and lower key, were plain brick and mortar. He passed a bookstore, a pharmacy that appeared to sell just as many herbal remedies as pills, and a tailor. It wasn’t until he passed the jewelry store with some simple pieces containing a few of the largest gems he’d ever seen in his life in the window displays that he caught sight of a familiar figure leaning against the ivy-covered wall, dressed in black skinny jeans and a red hooded jacket. “Billy!” He waved to his boyfriend and hurried forward.

Billy pushed away from the wall and gave him a slight wave in return, the voluminous hood of his jacket pulled forward to shade his face; it was an odd jacket, archaic in style and zipped diagonal across his chest, the sleeves full and long enough to cover his hands. Teddy had the impression of Billy hiding himself way and became nervous. “Ah, so this is the famous Mineo’s? No wonder I could never find it before.”

“Yes, it is.” Billy’s voice was distant and a bit cold, and then he pushed back the hood and offered Teddy a shy smile. “It, ah, it’s a bit of a local’s secret, I guess?” He looked at Teddy for a few seconds and then directed his gaze toward the ground. “I, ah, may have to wipe your memory after tonight.”

Feeling better at the joke, Teddy offered Billy his arm. “Well, I suppose it’s better than you killing me, and there’s the memory of that horrid day back in high school when I grabbed the wrong sweat pants and didn’t realize I wore my mom’s with ‘juicy’ on my butt all day that I could do without.” He grinned as Billy groaned. “Too much too soon?”

“Maybe a mercy killing would be a kindness.” They paused just inside the door, and an older man with pale blue skin ushered them toward a table in the back. “How did you manage a mistake like that?” Billy seemed to lose some of his shyness and reached up to unzip his jacket; Teddy could spot some of a dark grey t-shirt and what looked to be a colorful emblem beneath it.

“Well, I was a bit scrawny back them, it was the first year in high school.” Teddy laughed in a self-conscious manner as he flexed his left arm. “Guess you could say I hit a growth spurt a little after that.” Or decided to take matters into his own hands.

Billy stared at his own hands – well, his fingertips peeking out from the overlong sleeves of his jacket. “Yeah, must be nice to have one of those.” His mouth quirked up on the left side. “Don’t think that’ll happen if it hasn’t already.”

Teddy reached out to cover Billy’s fine-boned hands with his larger, almost hammish ones and thought he felt a jolt of… of something at the contact. “Hey, not all of us can be big lugs like me. My mom always said that I was put on this earth to lift furniture and carry the groceries, so obviously your calling is something else. Maybe to get the last of the olives out of the jar and fetch the remote when it falls between the couch and the end table?”

That wrung a laugh out of Billy, and he was smiling as their server came to drop off two menus and take their drink order. Once the man was gone, Billy set the menu aside. “Nice to know I have such a glorious future to look forward to.”

“Hey, don’t look down on being the remote fetcher – he who has ownership of the remote wields the most power,” Teddy intoned in his most serious voice.

“I shall be certain to put that on my resume, I’m sure Google will jump at the chance to hire me.” Billy continued to smile at him for a few more seconds before he held up the menu, his chin propped up by his covered left hand. “So, on to the second round of tests. What, good sir, do you want on your pizza?”

Teddy pretended to look over the menu for a moment. “Uhm, pineapple and anchovies.”

There was silence from the other end of the table, and then Billy slowly put down the menu and began to stand up. “That’s it, I can no longer associate with a heathen such as you. Good bye, don’t ever call me again.”

Teddy laughed as he reached across the table and tugged on Billy’s jacket. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” He held on until Billy huffed and sat back down, his arms folded over his chest and a dubious expression on his face. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t resist.” Customers at the tables around them were staring, and Teddy gave them a wide smile as well. “I would never desecrate a pizza like that.”

“I hope not,” Billy muttered as he shook off Teddy’s hand. “All right, be serious now.”

“Okay.” Teddy cleared his throat, aware of Billy’s gaze on him as he picked up the menu. “Uhm, the meat lover’s looks really good, but my mom’s been on me lately to make sure I eat better.” Plus, hadn’t Billy said something about his family being Jewish? Just how Orthodox were they? Was ham acceptable? “So… how does mushrooms and peppers sound? Too new age or what?”

“It’s simple and almost a classic.” Billy nodded as if in approval. “You don’t want to get too fussy with-“ His eyes went wide as he stared in the direction of the door. “No, he *didn’t*!”

“Uh, what?” Teddy twisted in his chair, expecting to see the server with the wrong drink order or something, and caught sight of a young man who looked an awful lot like Billy headed toward them with a very pretty young woman in two. “Ah, that’s Tommy, right?” He recognized Billy’s brother, though this time the guy wasn’t glaring at him like he’d been doing back at the bookstore.

No, now Billy was the one doing the glaring. “What are you doing here?” he hissed as he rose up in his chair.

Tommy affected a surprised air, his right hand pressed against his chest and his hazel eyes wide. “What? You’re here too? What are the odds?” He then took to grinning as he grabbed the empty two-seater table near them and dragged it over. “Kate, I’d like you to meet my brother, Billy. Billy, this is Kate.”

The young woman pursed her lips and narrowed her grey eyes at Tommy before she sighed and tossed back her dark brown hair. “It’s nice to meet you, Billy, though this isn’t quite how I imagined it would happen.” She smiled and Teddy saw her kick Tommy in the shin as she leaned over the now joined tables to offer her hand to Billy.

Billy seemed to catch that, too, and blinked a little as he stared at her hand. There was an odd tension to the air just then, some sort of static electricity, and Billy shook his hand in the air for a couple of seconds before he offered it to Kate with an odd expression on his face, one that was almost wary; meanwhile, Tommy *definitely* appeared on edge just then. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

Tommy let out a sudden breath and shuddered all over. “There, see! It’s all good.” He beamed at his brother and then at Kate. “Oh, yeah, and this is… Teddy, right?” He frowned a little in Teddy’s direction, and then yelped as Kate kicked him again and Billy… Teddy didn’t think Billy’s hand had connected just then, but Tommy jerked away from it all the same.

“Of course it’s Teddy! You… oh!” Billy shoved him toward the empty table. “For that, you’re picking up the tab tonight.”

“But I said I’d-“

Billy turned his glare Teddy’s way. “No, *he’s* paying.”

Unused to seeing Billy this irate, Teddy managed an anxious laugh and held up his hands in surrender. “Right, he’s paying. Maybe we should order some appetizers then? How’s the fried zucchini?”

“We’re getting the family sampler platter,” Billy spat out as he once more took to glaring at his brother, who looked ready to complain until there was a weird spark of static electricity when he touched the table.

Meanwhile, Kate grinned as she set the strap of her small purse on the back of her chair and then sat down. “Oh, I like him,” she told Tommy. “He’s feisty.”

“He’s being awfully free with my money, is what he’s being,” Tommy grumbled as he removed his grey baseball cap, his pale blond hair tousled beneath it.

The complaint prompted a laugh from Kate. “Oh, and just how hard did you work for that ‘money’, hmm?” She tapped a manicured nail against the table. “Slaving away, are you?”

Tommy grimaced as he leaned away from the table. “Okay, maybe this was a bad idea – like I need it from the both of you.”

“Too late,” both Billy and Kate said in unison, which prompted a groan of misery from Tommy and a laugh from Teddy. He watched as his boyfriend and Kate shared a smile, though Billy’s appeared rather uncertain; he wondered if Billy really hadn’t been exaggerating when he said he didn’t have many friends.

Deciding to help out his boyfriend, Teddy smiled at Kate. “So, are you a local, too?”

Kate was about to answer when the server returned with Billy’s iced coffee and Teddy’s soda, and left with Kate and Tommy’s drink order as well as that for the appetizer. “Nope, just visiting for the time being. I take it that you’re from the States? You don’t talk funny like these two do.”

Tommy scrunched his nose as he tossed a piece of napkin at her. “Ha, ha, we talk civilized, unlike you.”

Kate arched an elegant eyebrow as she picked up the scrap of paper and tossed it back. “You wouldn’t know ‘civilized if you ran into it.” She shook her head as she turned toward Billy. “Has he always been this hopeless?”

“Been that way since birth, as far as I can tell,” Billy admitted inbetween sips of his coffee.

Tommy threw his hat on the table in what appeared to be disgust, and then snatched it up, his movements almost a blur. “You guys suck.”

“I don’t know, maybe that’ll teach you not to crash someone’s date,” Billy told him, his lower jaw jutting out in obvious anger.

While it was heartening to see that Billy was upset about their time together being encroached upon, Teddy didn’t want his boyfriend to be upset, especially at his own brother. “But that just means I get another one, right?” He smiled as he reached out to hold onto Billy’s left hand. “I still owe you dinner, after all.”

At first Billy just stared at him, brown eyes wide and mouth slightly open, and then his cheeks slowly began to become flushed. “Uhm, I… okay.” He ducked his head, his dark brown hair falling onto his face as his right hand tugged at his bangs.

Beside him, Kate scooted down in her chair and Tommy yelped a moment later. “See, that’s how you do it. Take notes.”

“Stop kicking me,” he muttered to her before he turned to give Teddy a flat look. “Huh, you.”

“Me,” Teddy responded as he continued to hold onto Billy’s hand. For some reason, he was reminded of the times back in training, when Calisto would watch over his performance. Tommy didn’t look away until the server came back with his and Kate’s drinks and took their pizza order.

Tommy sneered when Billy told the man what they wanted on their pizza, and then gaped at Kate when she told him that she wanted mushrooms and spinach on theirs. “Aw come on! Spinach?”

“Some of us don’t have hyped up metabolisms,” she informed him as she jabbed at his arm. “And you can do with some minerals in you – what did you have for lunch, huh? Anything that didn’t come in a sealed bag?”

As Tommy took to groaning again, Teddy gave Billy’s hand a squeeze and leaned in so he could speak in a quiet voice. “You know, I was thinking about taking you to a movie, but I think I’ll save that for another time – this entertainment’s free and pretty good.”

Billy treated him to another of those sweet, slow smiles that made his heart race. “As much as I’m ready to kill him for pulling a stunt like this, I have to admit it is rather fun to watch.” His eyes flickered downward for a moment. “Sorry about… all of this.” He made a slight motion with his right hand to Kate and Tommy, who were still bickering albeit in a friendly manner.

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” Teddy gave Billy’s hand another squeeze. “You still have a long way to go to mess things up after I ran out on you last night.” He grimaced as he thought about how their previous date had ended. “Even if you eat the last slice of pizza and spill my drink on me, I still think I’m in the red.”

Billy’s smile had faltered at the mention of last night, but it strengthened there at the end. “Good to know, especially that last slice of pizza bit.”

Teddy groaned as he sat back in his chair, reluctant to let go of Billy’s hand. “Oh, now I’ve done it, right?”

“Just wait until our pizza arrives, you’ll regret it after the first bite.” Billy appeared rather smug as he picked up his half-finished drink. “I can’t believe you ate at lesser establishments.”

That seemed to get Tommy’s attention. “Wait, this is his first time here, too?” An expression of pure disgust came over Tommy’s face, so similar to Billy’s in some ways yet Teddy had a feeling he’d never confuse the two, and not only because of their different coloring; Tommy seemed too… too cocky to ever be mistaken for Billy. “What is it with these foreigners? Are you born with a gene for bad pizza or what?”

“I don’t want to be lectured on food by a guy who-“

Fortunately, they were rescued by their appetizer arriving then, and Kate sighed at the appearance of piled fried food on the huge platter. “Oh yay, and my point has just been proven for me.”

Teddy laughed as he handed her one of the side plates and some napkins. “At least I think there’s some vegetables beneath all that batter and grease?”

“I feel better about my hardening arteries already,” Kate drawled as she scooped a few fried mushrooms onto her plate. “I’m picking the place tomorrow,” she told Tommy as she poked a fork in his direction. “And you’re still paying.”

“Like I didn’t see *that* coming.” Tommy rolled his eyes. He moped for a second, and then draped his arm over Billy’s shoulders. “Hey, do you wanna-“

“No,” Billy cut him off, his tone flat and unusually cold. “Don’t even ask, unless you really do want to end up in Antarctica.”

For some reason the odd joke made Tommy jerk his arm away in a hurry and hold up his hands in surrender. “Fine, be that way.” Teddy was left wondering what the story was behind it, if it was one their grandfather threatened them with when they were bad, and reached out to tap his clean fork against Billy’s plate when his boyfriend didn’t look up from staring at the table.

“Hey, so how do we go about splitting up the appetizer now? Free for all or do we take these two on in a battle to the death? I think your brother is a piece of cake, but Kate… well, she looks pretty nasty to me. Might be trouble.” That assessment wrung a pleased laugh from the young woman.

“Oh my god, no wonder you like him, he’s as much of a dweeb as you are – stop kicking me!”

“Then stop being such a pest,” Kate told him as she grinned at Billy and Teddy. “And he’s right, you would be the first to go down in this fight.”

At first Billy gazed at Teddy as if… as if he wasn’t there, as if he was looking at nothing at all, and just as Teddy began to wonder what was going on with his boyfriend, if he should as Tommy for help, there was that shy, uncertain smile and Billy ducked his head as his hands slipped beneath the table, probably to tug at his jacket. For some reason Teddy thought he caught a gleam of blue in Billy’s eyes as his head dipped, but put that down to nerves – he wanted so much for this date to go right, for nothing to mess it up, and even if Tommy’s antics were rather amusing, he could tell that his presence here was getting to Billy. It was almost enough for him break regulations, turn off his SHIELD issued phone and drag Billy out of the pizza shop so they could have some peace and quiet.

Instead, he stretched out his leg and nudged his foot against his boyfriend’s. “Well? That a yes to the free for all?”

Billy looked up from tearing at his jacket and shrugged, that faint smile still hovering on his lips. “Nah, I think we can take them. Or, at least, Tommy. Kate doesn’t seem that interested in appetizers so maybe we can appease her with a salad instead.”

“Wow, I see where the brains went between the two of you,” Kate commented as she rested her elbows on the table. “Good strategy, there.”

“Aw, come *on*!” Tommy whined before he buried his face in his arms on top of the table.

While Kate made placating noises at her boyfriend, Teddy reached over to tug the appetizer plate closer to him and Billy and shared a grin of victory with his boyfriend.

*******

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we're starting to get the gang together, so to speak....


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! Hmm, I'm sorta on the fence about this one, it helps to move things along and there's a cute scene or two in it (I love Wanda, can you tell), but... eh, I think I'll like the next chapter a lot more. Still, hope you enjoy it! And thank you so much for the comments and the kudos left on the previous chapter(s)!

*******

Billy tugged on his zipper as he glanced aside from Teddy. “Uhm, I’m really sorry for tonight.”

“Huh?” Teddy blinked in confusion and tilted his head to the side, and his right arm brushed against Billy’s. “For what? That pizza *was* incredible.”

“For uhm.” Billy let go of his zipper so he could twirl his hand around in the air. “The whole mess with my brother. I can’t believe he showed up.” Though Kate was pretty cool, he had to admit; what she was doing with Tommy, he had no clue.

“Oh, that.” Teddy tugged on one of his earrings as he laughed. “I didn’t mind it too much, not really.” He smiled and managed to snake his right arm through Billy’s left, which made Billy blush at the contact. “Yeah, I hadn’t planned on it being a double-date, but it was nice, getting a chance to know your brother a little better than just the ‘rude guy in the bookstore’. Plus, he picked up the tab and Kate dragged him off so we can get our coffee in peace.”

“Yeah, she’s great for doing that, or else he’d probably have been a pest all night.” Uncertain what to do with Teddy’s arm in his, Billy forced himself to relax and to walk a little closer to his… his boyfriend. All night long he’d been waiting for another phone call, for some sort of excuse from Teddy to leave early or bail or… *something*. But this… this felt okay. It felt good. It felt… he shouldn’t get ahead of himself.

There was another laugh from Teddy as he hugged Billy’s arm against him. “I have to admit that as fun as it was to watch you and Kate put him in his place, there were times tonight that made me grateful for being an only child.”

Billy groaned in understanding and nodded. “Me too, and I’m his *twin*! I don’t know why someone amazing like Kate’s putting up with him – I know it’s not mind control, so maybe it’s black mail.”

Teddy was quiet for a moment as they turned down the street that would lead to Pierson’s. “Ah, so do you know Kate?”

Billy shook his head. “Just by name, mostly. This was the first time I met her.” He felt that niggling fear, that concern from earlier return. Was Teddy interested in Kate? Was he bi? Kate was a very attractive young woman, what if-

“Ouch, there’s a lot of static electricity despite the humidity,” Teddy complained as he rubbed his hand along Billy’s arm. “I was just wondering… ah, I don’t really know how to say this.” He gave Billy a nervous grin which faltered while Billy stared back at him in return. “Well, I just… I caught how Kate referred to herself as ‘human’ at one point. And I guess, well, I wondered if you were, too. Or weren’t. Whatever.” He resumed tugging at his earring as he gave a nervous chuckle.

“Oh.” That wasn’t what Billy had expected Teddy to ask him, and he did some tugging of his own, at his bangs. “What if I am? Is that a bad thing?” He thought about his mother, so beautiful and alone in her garden.

Teddy was quick to shake his head. “No! Not at all, my mother… well, I guess I just outed myself, right?” He came to a halt in the street, which fortunately wasn’t busy that late in the evening. “I’m, ah, a mutant, but my mother isn’t. It came as a bit of a surprise because of that, but… there it is. I just wondered about you, but it’s not a big deal.” He stared down at Billy with an earnest expression on his handsome face, his blue eyes wide and guile-free.

Billy gave his bangs one more tug before he tucked them aside. “I’m one, too – a mutant. It’s a family thing.” He waved his hand about and had to restrain his magic to keep it from bursting forth. “You know, what with Genosha and all.” Yeah, smooth move there, he just kept himself from wincing at that overshare.

“I thought you might be, once you said your family had been here for a while.” Teddy’s smile became more relaxed. “So what do you do? I’m… ah, well, I’m strong, you can say.” He flexed his right arm as if posing.

“Ah, and so the whole moving furniture and carrying groceries thing makes sense.” Billy thought about what he could reveal about himself that wouldn’t sound too much like ‘William’. “I teleport.”

“Really?” Teddy gasped and gave the side of his head a light smack. “So that’s how you vanished so fast those couple of times and always beat me to places.” He grinned as he resumed walking. “That’s a really neat talent to have – I’ve a friend who can teleport.”

Billy shrugged, unused to people saying nice things about his talent, even if it was just a facet of his ability. “I guess.”

“No, no, it’s much better than mine – what I wouldn’t give to be able to teleport home for the night and see my mom.” Just then, Teddy sounded so wistful that Billy almost asked him where his mother lived so he could grant him his wish. “That is, assuming that you can teleport that far.”

Uncertain of just how much he should reveal about himself, Billy made a noncommittal sound as he ducked his head. “Uhm, still figuring things out.”

“I imagine you don’t have many reasons to try to teleport to the US, not when you have fantastic pizza, sushi and coffee here.”

Well, there were the various fan conventions and the brief respites from his crazy family, but Billy didn’t think it was a good idea to share that just yet. “You’re right, I’d have to have a very good reason to go hopping all over the globe.” He felt nervous all of a sudden as he curled his fingers into the sleeves of his jacket.

Teddy stopped again, this time about half a block down from Pierson’s. “Well… maybe we’ll just have to work on giving you a reason to do it, right?” He sounded a little uncertain just then as he tugged Billy to face him. “I mean, I hear incentive is a wonderful motivator.”

Billy had to swallow past a throat gone tight as he stared up at Teddy, at the handsome face and blue eyes that seemed to express so much emotion. “Ah, is that another needlepoint thing?”

“Maybe?” Teddy leaned in a little closer. “If it makes me seem all macho and wise, yeah.”

“Wha-“ About to laugh, Billy was smiling when Teddy closed the distance between them for a kiss; his eyes went wide when he realized what was happening and his hands flailed about, a few sparks released before he clenched his hands into fists and dared to rest them against Teddy’s broad chest. Noticing that Teddy had closed his eyes, Billy did the same, and let out a faint whimper at the feel of warm, soft lips against his own, at large yet gentle hands on his hips. Just as he dared to part his lips, there was the sound of someone clearing their throat, which made Billy jump back and his face heat up in embarrassment as some older man skirted around them. “Ah! Yeah, okay.” He pressed his cloth-covered right wrist to his face as if it could soak up the heat.

Meanwhile, Teddy smiled at the man who had walked past them as he held out his left hand to Billy. “So, coffee?”

“Yeah, coffee. Maybe a frappuccino,” Billy muttered as he tugged his hood over his still flushed face.

Teddy winked at him once Billy accepted his hand. “So we did sushi and pizza. What’s next on the list of culinary delights? Burgers? I think I’m in a burger mood for our next date.”

Despite his heart already racing from the kiss, Billy felt it flutter even more at mention of another date. “I-I think it depends on what type of burger you want – traditional or ‘WTF, who thought up those toppings on that meat?’.”

For that he was given a dubious look for several seconds before Teddy sighed. “Okay, I give up, I think I have to go with the latter.”

“Hmm, I won’t hold it against you, there’s points for either answer,” Billy let him know as he gave Teddy’s hand a squeeze.

“Oh yay, so glad to know I’m passing the gauntlet of the dreaded food challenges.” Teddy lunged forward to open the door for Billy, but as Billy went to pass him by, tugged him in close for a quick kiss. “At least there’s a truly worthy prize at the end.”

His face once more heating up from the compliment, Billy stammered out something incoherent and tugged his hood down even farther.

*******

Tommy fidgeted with the neck of his white dress shirt, the handle to the bag of baked goods clutched in his left hand. Did he look decent enough? Would she care? Bah, he hated getting all dressed up like this, this was *Billy’s* job. Doing his best to quell his nerves, he pushed open the iron gate and strode into the garden as if he did something like this every day.

“Mah-mah lord?” Rahne gawked at him for a minute and then scrambled to her feet, which caused a high pitched yipping from the… oh great, there were *more* of them now. At least now Tommy knew where the freaky thing and the cage had gone to – Billy had foisted the Burberry-chewing fiend onto their mother, and spawned what looked to be three more of them. “Is Mom up?”

“One moment.” Rahne dropped what appeared to be scraps of meat onto the ground, and wouldn’t you know it, the blue and white glowing spawns of fashion hell seemed to love it just as much as Tommy’s scarves.

“Don’t even think of it,” he threatened when one of them came by to sniff at his shoes. “These are Prada, and I will- uhm, morning, Mom!”

“Good morning, darling.” There was a twinkle in his mother’s dark eyes as if she knew what was going on. “Having fun with the kits?”

“You could say that.” He sighed as he skirted around them so he could give her a kiss. “You don’t have to babysit them for Billy, you know.”

“But I like them, they’re adorable. Even Rahne thinks so.” She smiled when she spied the bag of Blé Sucré. “Oh! I’m beginning to think you and your brother are trying to fatten me up!”

“Aw, but you’re perfect the way you are.” Tommy held out his free arm so he could escort her to the table, where Rahne was already setting out plates for them. “I’m surprised that Billy’s not here.” He set the bag down on the table then helped his mother sit down with a fancy flourish.

She smiled at his antics and then a slight frown marred her beautiful features. “No, he hasn’t come by today – well, that I’ve noticed. He was here yesterday, though.” She gave Tommy a thoughtful look as she fingered the teaspoon that Rahne had set out. “You haven’t been saying things to him about his power, have you?”

Well, that was an unusual question, wasn’t it? And right to the point. “Like what?” He propped his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his palms. “Like how all of a sudden he’s this super-powered battery and flinging it all about? Like how he’s suddenly on Grandfather’s level and just as scary – if not more-so?”

Now the look from her was full of reproach. “Thomas! He’s your brother!”

“Yeah, yeah, my baby brother.” He sighed as he sat back in his chair. “No, I haven’t said much to him about it… what would I say? Maybe a comment here or there about how he’s using his talent a lot, but I haven’t been ragging on him about it, if that’s what you’re worried about.” That last came out a bit bitter, because as always, his mother worried about precious Billy, her favorite.

Things were quiet after that, in part because Rahne returned with a tray filled with a pot of tea and the teacups. “Anything else, mah lady?”

“No, Rahne, thank you very much.” Wanda summoned a smile for the girl, and as she left, began to unbox the pastries. “Thank you very much for bringing these for me.”

“It wasn’t anything special,” Tommy told her. Granted, it took more effort for him than for Billy, who just… just *breathed* or blinked or whatever and was in Paris and then breathed again and was back here with the damned things, but eh, it had been a nice run.

“Still, I appreciate it.” She paused and reached out to touch his hand. “And I wasn’t criticizing you, honestly. I just… something is hurting your brother and I want to know what it is. If it’s not you – and I don’t mean to imply you’re doing it on purpose, but I’m a twin too, you know.” She paused again to give him a small smile, one tinged with sadness. “There have been times, between your uncle and I… there is love, but that doesn’t prevent misunderstandings.” The smile was wiped away as her expression hardened. “And if it’s not you who is hurting him, then it is someone else.”

“Wow, why am I glad that it’s not me.” Tommy gave a nervous laugh as he sat back a little in his chair. “Where did my sweet little mother go?”

She shook her head as she checked the tea. “I refuse to allow anyone to hurt my boys – either of you.”

Hearing that, the ‘either’ part, made Tommy smile. “I know who I’m putting my money on.”

“Bah.” Wanda set the lid back on the teapot and then picked up her napkin to wave it in his face. “You make it sound as if I would be brawling with these people.”

“Well, maybe that’s why we’re trying to fatten you up.” Tommy snatched up a chocolate croissant and held it out to her. “Come on, a few more kilos and you’ll be in the right weight class.”

Wanda giggled as she held the napkin up to her nose. “Pietro is right, you are incorrigible.”

“Nah, he just has a stick up his a-ah, he’s an old stick in the mud.” Still, Tommy was smiling as he took a bite out of the croissant, and had to admit that his mother had excellent taste. “Mmm, tea almost ready?”

“Yes.” She appeared happy and so lovely as she poured it for them, her curly hair pulled back with a fancy gold barrette, her beautiful face flushed with laughter and much too young for her age, her dark brown eyes bright. With the elaborate red dress she wore, she looked just like a fairy-tale princess out of one of the books Billy used to always ask for her to read to them when they were growing up, surrounded by those freaky foxes and magical flowers… yet all of this suited her. Tommy dreaded to think how his mother would be out in Grandfather’s court, dealing with people who would smile at her one minute and insult her the next, as soon as her back was turned. One only had to see what it had done to Uncle Pietro, what it was doing to Aunt Lorna… what it was doing to him. No, he much preferred his mother here in her magical garden, just as he preferred Billy tucked inside of their rooms.

“My, someone has turned thoughtful. Something in those croissants?”

“Huh?” Tommy blinked back to the present moment and found his mother smiling at him, a bemused expression on her face as she held out a cup of tea. “Oh, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Wanda took a moment to breathe over her own cup and then sighed. “Thomas… I am overjoyed to see you, and you are always welcome here, but I have a feeling that you’re not here for tea and croissants.” She set the cup aside. “Is something wrong?” Now her expression grew concerned. “Did Grandfather do something?”

“Uhm?” Wow, that didn’t take long, did it? He took a quick swallow of tea despite its heat. “Am I that transparent?”

His mother smiled at him and reached out again to touch his hand. “I mean no insult, but you’re too much like your uncle in some regards, and your grandfather in others. You do not… ah, how to say this… you do not come to enjoy the flowers.”

Part of that might be the fact that they were some seriously weird-ass flowers, but he doubted that his mother would see that point. “Maybe I miss my mother,” he said in a churlish tone.

That made her smile even more. “That might have worked when you were seven, but again….” She sat back in her chair and folded her arms over her chest. “Please tell me what is wrong.”

Dammit, he never could win against her, it was part of the reason he hated just dropping by like this. Tommy sighed and ran his right hand over his hair. “All right, so I’m… seeing this girl.”

“Oh, this sounds promising already.” Wanda’s eyes twinkled and she picked up her cup of tea. “I assume since I’m hearing about this that she’s nice?”

Tommy grimaced and he picked up another croissant which he then proceeded to shred to pieces. “Yeah, she’s nice. She’s… there’s something about her. She’s… different.”

“You mean she’s different than all those other girls you hang out with.” His mother flashed him another knowing smile. “As I reminded your brother yesterday, I was a teenager once, too. I know the difference between the dates you tell your parents about and the ones you don’t.”

Tommy groaned as he rubbed at his temples. “Not… yeah, not going there right now.” He scowled at his mother and pointed at her for a couple of seconds. “This is about me, okay? Not about mentally scarring me.”

“All right, I’ll be good.” There was a flash of an impish grin and then Wanda picked up a croissant of her own, which she began to nibble on.

Tommy watched her for a few seconds to make certain that she was serious about behaving. “Okay, good.” Then he sighed. “Yeah, Kate… her name is Kate. She’s gorgeous, she’s smart – so much smarter than me. She doesn’t take my shit, she’s like you and Billy in that regard.” He sighed again. “I spend time with her and I leave, and then I only want to spend more time with her.” Normally telling someone his feelings like this made him want to punch the other person or run away, but this… this was his mother, was someone who looked at him with understanding and he knew without judgment. Or at least, so he hoped. In this world, there was only her and Billy, at least for now.

“She sounds wonderful.” Wanda set her empty cup aside and folded her hands together on top of the table. “Why are you so worried?”

He hesitated for a moment and then swiped the crumbs of the croissant onto the ground. “Because she’s a human.”

If he was expecting a major reaction from his mother, a loud gasp or negative response, he didn’t get it. All that happened was that she picked up the pot of tea and poured them both some more. “You care about her, right?”

He blinked a couple of times before he nodded. “Yeah, that’s sorta the point here.”

“I see.” She set the pot down with a quiet ‘click’. “Your grandfather will be a bit of a problem, but we can work around him.”

“Wait, what?” He stared in shock at his mother even as a faint bit of damming hope fluttered in his chest. “Are you serious?”

“Of course.” She arched an eyebrow at him as she raised her cup near her mouth. “Isn’t that why you came to me? For help against Father?”

“Yeah, but I thought you’d get on me about dating a human in the first place, and then go on about how mad Grandfather would be, and Uncle losing his shit, and….” Tommy jumped out of his seat and raced over to his mother, where he grabbed her for a hug. “Thank you!”

She laughed as she attempted to set the cup down without spilling its contents. “You’re welcome!” She was still laughing as she managed to grasp his face between her hands, which were warm from the tea. “Oh Thomas, I’m so happy for you. All I care about is that this Kate makes you smile, not who or what she is.” Her own smile took on a slightly mocking edge. “Besides, I’m the last person to care if you’re in love with a human.”

His face heated up as he pulled back a little. “Ah, well, not sure I’m ready for the big ‘L’ word yet.”

“Hmm, my mistake.” Now Wanda was all but smirking as she dabbed at the drops of tea on the table with her napkin. “How presumptuous of me.”

Tommy’s eyes narrowed as he made his way back to his chair. “I think someone’s been sniffing the magic flowers too much lately.”

“Maybe.” His mother tilted her head to the side in a coquettish manner, her long hair falling over her shoulder. “Now tell me a little more about your Kate – I want a proper idea about her so we can work up a good plan on how to present her to Father in such a way that he’ll have to accept her.” For a moment her happy mood darkened. “Lorna’s mistake was hiding her relationship with Raphael for too long, which allowed Father to paint it in a negative light. We won’t give him that chance with the two of you.”

Yeah, well, Aunt Lorna hadn’t wanted Grandfather to tear the poor guy apart, with just cause. But with his mother on his side and, after last night, Billy, Tommy had a better chance. At the very least, he wasn’t going down with a fight, unlike Aunt Lorna.

“I really think you’ll like her,” Tommy started as he picked up another croissant, this time to eat. “For a rich kid, she’s not spoiled at all.”

Wanda leaned over the table with her cup held between her hands, intent on what he said as he described Kate to her.

*******

Billy hovered in the air as he surveyed the garden in front of him, the lush green grass and the orderly banks of white, pink and red roses. It was… it was so typical and bland and blah. Maybe something Asian and Zen? It was time for something different, so he summoned his talent and unleashed it in a blue wave that sunk into the plants and the ground until they glowed as well, their shapes altering and melting only to reform into something new moments later. Billy frowned as he judged the new shapes and made several tweaks, reached out with his mind to alter this and that until it suited his whim – for now.

There was a heavy sigh somewhere behind him. “The gardeners are going to be furious, you know.”

“I can change it back,” he told Grandfather as he motioned with his right hand to cause an ‘s’ shaped pattern to form in the smooth gravel off to the left to represent a river. “But I always thought that Aunt Lorna wanted something different so I’ll have them deal with her first.”

There was silence for a few seconds while his grandfather floated into his view and then a warm chuckle. “You seem to have picked up a talent for negotiations after all.”

“Please, how many times did Tommy break something and then run off, leaving me behind to deal with the mess?” He studied the miniature Japanese maples for a moment and decided that he preferred for their leaves to be red and not green. “I think I know how to handle upset staff by now.”

“So it seems.” Grandfather appeared to study the new garden for several seconds before he returned his attention back to Billy. “Any reason why you’re now redecorating rather than blowing up the back garden?”

“I felt like trying something different.” Billy shrugged as he summoned a few more rocks and created another gravel ‘mountain’. The truth was, he’d woken up with so much energy, with the need to cast it off somehow and hadn’t felt like useless destruction so he’d come out here to ‘play’. It wasn’t like there was much else he could do – he couldn’t go downtown like this and rearrange the heart of Hammer Bay or anywhere else without giving his grandfather a heart-attack.

“Well, I’m sure your aunt at least will be happy.” Grandfather folded his arms over his chest as he stared at Billy, his grey eyes hooded and his expression unreadable. “I did come out here to talk to you about something other than the gardeners.”

Billy gave up on playing with rocks so he could devote more of his attention to his grandfather; if the man was going to ground him again or give him a lecture on ‘princely’ duty, it might behoove him to focus a little. “Uhm, if it’s about the whole extra dimension thing in the closet, I can fix it. At least, I think I can.” He tugged at his bangs as he tucked his legs beneath him. “I just… I’m tired of Tommy taking over my side of it so I wanted a little extra room?” Between that and Tails, Tommy had basically decided yesterday that he was keeping all of his clothes on his side of the room, and Billy better not bitch about the mess.

There was a rather weary sigh from Grandfather as he shook his head. “I must admit, it’s never very boring with you and your brother around.” For a moment Grandfather managed a stern expression, and then he began to smile. “And I thought twins the first time around was an adventure.”

“Uhm, okay?” Billy winced at a particularly harsh tug and gave up on his poor hair. “That’s… good, right?” He wasn’t in trouble?

“That’s a ‘please figure out how to undo the extra dimension, even if I’m a bit proud of you for managing it in the first place’,” Grandfather told him. “If you need extra closet space so badly, we can see about adding on to your rooms… or perhaps it’s time for Thomas to have his own quarters.” There was something wistful to Grandfather’s expression just then. “It sneaks up on me, sometimes, how old the two of you are.”

“Oh.” Billy blinked a couple of times as he attempted to digest all of that, his hands busy picking at his cloak. “Wow, okay… yeah, wow.” Grandfather’s approval and not yelling at him and the whole ‘you’re not little babies’ thing. “Ah, I guess separate rooms would be good.” It would be strange, not having Tommy there… except that outside of the last few days, Tommy really *wasn’t* there much, and hadn’t been for the past year or so; Billy had basically been on his own since his brother had turned fifteen. “You know he’s going to be a pain about picking out his own room.”

“He’ll accept what I give him or spend a few days in the basement.”

Ah, yeah, that was the Grandfather that Billy knew. He peeked at him through the bangs falling into his eyes and smiled a little. “Could be worse, you could threaten him with rooming with Uncle.”

If Billy had been startled before, he was about to teleport to his mother’s garden for help when Grandfather actually *laughed* at his weak joke. “Oh, do not tempt me, William, do not tempt me.” A slight smile transformed Grandfather into someone *human* as he chuckled. “However, I fear the palace wouldn’t be able to withstand the fallout of such a thing.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Hmm.” Grandfather continued to smile for a few more seconds before he shook his head. “As amusing as this is, I did say I came here for a reason.” He drifted a little closer to Billy as his demeanor returned to its usual seriousness. “The annual gala is soon, and I want you to attend this year.”

“Okay.” Billy was so used to obeying his grandfather that the response was automatic, and then he realized what he’d just agreed to and panicked. “Wait, what? You want me to attend this year? The *gala*? With… with people?” He nearly started hyperventilating and sparks filled the air around him, his magic seeking something to latch on to, something to change to make him feel better, feel *safer*.

“William!” Grandfather reached for him then seemed to reconsider the action. “Yes, I want you to attend – I feel it’s time that our people come to know you. You’ll soon be of age and… and it’s clear that you’ve come of power.”

Billy shook his head as he struggled with his magic. “But I… I don’t know what to do or how to act or anything.” He’d barely attended any state affairs in years, and the few he’d been at were the ones where all he’d had to do was stand around in the background and not open his mouth.

Grandfather sighed as he clenched his outheld right hand. “It’s a gala, not a… well, not a negotiation or state function. The theme this year is even a masquerade party so many of the guests won’t even know it’s you. However, I think this is an important step for you, to be there with your family.” There was a hard glint to Grandfather’s eye. “You’re a Lehnsherr, part of the House of Magnus, and you need to take your place with us.” He paused as he glanced around them. “It’s time… time to step away from the gardens, Grandson.”

“But what if I don’t want to?” Billy didn’t realize that he’d spoken the words aloud as he clutched his cloak around him as if it was a shield.

This time Grandfather did reach out to touch him – warm, calloused fingers against his cheek. “Grandson… William. I would shield you from the world forever, but you’re growing too fast and too strong for me to do that.” Something akin to pain and terrible knowledge shone in Grandfather’s eyes as he stared down at Billy. “I won’t push too hard, but I think… no, I *feel* that you hiding away all of the time is doing you little good. I’m not saying to show the world your true self, but let them see that you are one of us, that you stand with us… and *us* with you. Let them see the solidarity of this house, and give yourself a night to be a young man.” He paused to gaze out at the new garden. “Losing yourself to nothing but your power… I’ve seen others go down this path before, William, and often it leads to heartache. Spend some time with your family instead.”

“But, uhm, can’t I do that at like, a dinner or something?” Billy winced as he thought about the last family dinner he attended. “Or maybe a tea. Tea is good. Finger sandwiches and scones, I can handle that!” He wanted to hug his cloak around him until he disappeared beneath the heavy red folds.

There was an authorative rumble to his grandfather’s voice which told him that the man expected to be obeyed. “William… you will attend the party, and it will be fine.” For a moment there was a hint of uncertainty in his grandfather’s heavy gaze. “Your family with be there at your side, and all you have to do is show up, join us for a short while, and then leave.”

In other words, be a good boy and don’t fuck up things with his magic. Yeah, that was doable. Totally. Oh shit, Billy could feel the panic setting in already. “Okay,” he squeaked as he did his best not to vanish… vanish *somewhere*.

His grandfather let out a heartfelt sigh as he folded his arms once more over his chest. “William… this isn’t meant to be a punishment, but a means to enable growth. I think it hasn’t been in your best interest, to allow you… I think it might do you some good, to be with your family. You don’t have to stay there the entire night, but do put in an appearance.” He gave Billy an odd look before he began to float away. “Perhaps you may enjoy yourself.”

“Uhm, okay.” Yeah, like that would happen – spending time in front of a bunch of strangers while Tommy drank himself unconscious, Uncle Pietro acted all pompous and Aunt Lorna was in major puppeteer mode. Somehow, he doubted it. Still, Billy managed to smile and nod his head, the default for answering Grandfather, and waited until he was once more alone in the garden.

By that time he wasn’t so much in a creative mood, but he forced himself to finish what he started rather than blast everything to dust; if the gravel was a lot wavier than intended and the rocks rather jagged, then Aunt Lorna would just have to wait another day for a bit more ‘peaceful’ garden.

Still, it gave Billy something to do, something to help waste away the hours until it would be time to see Teddy again, so even if the end result was a bit messy, it helped to take Billy’s mind off of the slowly creeping clock and everything that could go wrong before now and then and… and…. He finished the garden with a blast of blue and then found himself floating above the vastness of darkness save for the small, glowing spheres without too much conscious thought, shocked to find himself in what was supposed to be a dream when he was wide awake. He was wide awake, right? One moment he’d been in the back garden and now… now….

“Ah, how you grow, my Imp. Quite the prodigy, yes you are.”

Billy… ‘spun’ wasn’t quite the right word, not when there didn’t seem to be much of a proper center to the darkness. Still, he twisted about somewhat in a desperate attempt to pin down where ‘DV’s voice originated, his red cloak twining about his body. “Where are you?”

“Never too far away, have no fear of that.”

“But I- that’s not- why am I here?” Billy struggled with the thick material for a moment before giving up. “How is this possible?”

A feeling of something cold brushed against the left side of his face, almost like a caress. “Don’t you realize it yet? Anything is possible when it comes to you. You just have to reach inside and will it into being.” DV sounded almost… almost wistful just then.

Not in the mood for riddles, not after talking to Grandfather and then ending up here, Billy shook his head and huddled in the bonds of his cloak. “Why would I wish for this? It’s just a dream!” He gasped as the cold bit into his left cheek.

“A dream where the universe – no, the *multiverse* prostrates itself at your feet! A *dream* where you can have anything you want, you just have to reach out and *take* it, to bend it to your will,” DV hissed, his smooth voice harsh with rage and bitterness.

Billy hunched even more inside the confines of his cloak as he stared out into the darkness. “But… but you told me to not look at… well, at them. To not touch.” He struggled to move his arms, to wrap them around himself as the cold began to soak in, to make him shiver.

The caress was back, was a soft touch to his face and tousled through his hair. “Yes, I did. It’s because you weren’t ready yet, but you’re so close to being there now. So close.” DV’s voice sounded as if he whispered it in Billy’s ear, a tickle of cool air that made him shiver. “You’re strong enough to come here on your own terms now, it’s only a matter of time for the rest.”

A matter of time for what? “I don’t… I want to go back now,” Billy whispered. “I have… I should check on Tails, and there’s tonight, and-“ He gasped as the cold grew stronger, as it pierced his chest.

“Back to your prince charming?” The bitterness was even sharper in DV’s voice this time.

“What? Wh-who?” Billy struggled to breathe through the coldness and pain.

There was a harsh laugh as the cold dug in deeper. “So many worlds, and *he’s* there. But not this time, I won’t let him claim the prize.” The caress to Billy’s brow was almost soothing in comparison to the pain he felt, and provoked a slight gasp. “Enjoy your time together, because you’ll soon find out it’s nothing but lies.”

Something inside of Billy, something deep down, bubbled up while DV carried on, all hot and potent. “Leave me alone,” he muttered as he shook his head. “All of you – just leave me alone!” He was tired of it, tired of feeling as if being used, of always being told what to do. The magic raged forth until the cold and the darkness and DV disappeared in a wave of blue, until Billy found himself back in his bedroom.

He blinked a few times, the room full of blue sparks and a bone-deep coldness inside of him that made him shiver, and all he could think of was wanting to sleep, to curl up on the bed wrapped up in his cloak.

*******

“So, do you think I should pick up something before our date tonight? Coffee maybe? Coffee has sorta become our thing.”

Clarice made a gagging sound and wrapped her hands around her throat as if attempting to choke herself. “Oh god, please, kill me now. I don’t think I can stand the cuteness any longer.”

Teddy rolled his eyes over the drama queen’s antics. “Come on, it’s not that bad.”

It was her turn to roll her eyes as she straightened back up. “Right, you’ve just been going on and on and *on* about this guy and how great last night was and what to do about tonight for, oh,” she held up her left wrist, “two hours and thirty-eight minutes.” Then she heaved a rather plaintive sigh. “Almost three hours, Altman. THREE HOURS. Do you hear me ramble on for three hours about anything?”

“Uhm, there was that rant about how they’re ruining the plotline of your favorite tv show the other day,” he offered.

She waved that fact aside while making a rude noise. “Because there’s sexual tension and then there’s torture, and that my naïve young friend is a poor excuse of writing to make us fans suffer and eke out another season of not getting two hunky guys meant for each other together who-“

“Uhm, aren’t they brothers?”

“Two hunky guys who are soul-mates,” she went on in a louder tone of voice. “Say another word and I will teleport you without any clothes into the Sahara.”

He didn’t think her power worked like that, but he could take a hint with the best of them. “So… what are you going to do tonight?”

She gave him a narrowed look as if to say that she was on to him, but since there was no teleporting, he figured he was good. “Think it might be a Netflix night, once we figure out who’s stuck running out for pizza and beer.”

“Aw, I feel so bad that it’s not me. Really.” He sniffed as if heartbroken and half laughed-half wheezed when she smacked her left hand into his ribs. “Life is so hard.”

“Not for a veteran like me.”

“Hmm, true.” He clapped his hands together once and then forced them down to his side, fighting the urge to go for his phone and send a message to Billy; they’d exchanged a few messages that morning and things were a lot better than they’d been yesterday. Teddy just wished that he’d been able to see Billy home instead of watching him disappear in a flash of blue sparks, the feel of his new boyfriend’s lips lingering on his from the last kiss.

“Look sharp, if Wisdom catches you zoning out, your cute head is gonna be fried,” Clarice warned.

“Yeah, yeah.” Teddy tugged on his earring as he attempted to shove all thoughts of Billy out of his currently unfried head. “So where do you want me to go for lunch? That one sandwich place again?”

She hummed a little as she appeared to give it some thought. “Probably best if we’re doing all those carbs tonight.” She reached over to poke him in his ribs. “Not all of us can shift back into our uniform the next morning.”

He was about to tease her that maybe she should do some of the running around for once, when all of a sudden there was a chill in the air. “Uhm, the a/c acting up?”

Clarice’s green eyes began to glow as she stared down the hallway. “It’s not the a/c!” She gestured at something, and Teddy caught one of her portals open in front of a large, black shape barreling its way down the hall.

“Guthrie, they’re making another move,” she shouted over the com as more shapes appeared as if out of thin air; Teddy began to shift as one appeared just a few feet away from him and swung its long, muscular arm at him. Seeing the thick, black claws at the end of its massive hand made him bite back on a curse and shift armored plate onto his now green skin, his uniform creaking to accommodate his increased girth. The claws skittered across the front of his chest, the blue material splitting open beneath them and a flash of fire left in their wake but Teddy gritted his teeth against the pain as he punched at the creature with all his might. It went flying toward a wall and left a crater with its impact, only to shrug off the blow and stand up again – then to be slammed back again as fiery blades were embedded in its chest.

“Fuckin’ chavs think ta have at it on my watch? Let’s do this.” Pete Wisdom sneered as he fired off another batch of those fire-hot blades of his at a creature that was circling around Clarice. “Dumb fuckin’-“

“Language!” Dr. Wisdom-Pryde called out from back in the lab. “Also, try to leave one of them alive!”

“I took care of that,” Clarice explained. “One’s already been sent off to our base for the others to take down, so all we have to do is- oh no you don’t!” Clarice sent one of her teleportation circles toward a creature that was hovering toward the end of the hallway, but there was a haze of white and then it disappeared. Beside Teddy, Wisdom cursed up a blue streak and lunged to the nearest black shape that was still smoking from being skewered from his blades, but both of the corpses disappeared before their eyes, too. “Interfering bastard!” He kicked at the cracked wall where the creature had just been moments before.

Dr. Wisdom-Pryde stood in the doorway, her glasses pushed up into her disheveled hair and her right eyebrow arched as she surveyed the damage. “So whoever is behind this is a teleporter. Nice to know.”

Pete Wisdom spun around to face his wife and jabbed a finger in her direction. “Get back in the lab until we know for certain they’re all gone.”

“Relax, I’m phased.” She waved her right hand through the wall beside her. “But to satisfy your ridiculous male ego, I’ll go check the latest results.” She rolled her eyes as she turned around, her white lab coat flaring about and ‘phasing’ into the wall for a few seconds.

“Oi! Add a ‘yes, lord and master’ while you’re at it!”

“Drop dead first and maybe I’ll consider it.”

Wisdom grinned for a moment before his demeanor once more became serious. “You, Pinky.” He gestured toward Clarice. “Your buddies still got that one you zapped away?” He glared as he rolled up the grey sleeves of his dress shirt.

Clarice’s eyes narrowed at nickname even as she tapped the comm in her ear. “One second, Grumpy.” Pete Wisdom flashed her a grin at her retort while she checked in. “Agent Guthrie, how is- what? Even that far away? Well, shi-ooot. Sorry to hear that, sir. Same thing happened here, too. Guess it really wasn’t Hisako and Julian’s fault, eh?” She winced as if their leader had something rather succinct to say at the moment. “Understood, sir.” After letting out a slow breath, she shook her head. “Sorry, but looks as if someone doesn’t want us to do the whole ‘tell us what you know’ routine.”

Teddy felt a bit of frustration at that, but it looked as if Pete Wisdom was really upset. “This is getting fuckin’ ridiculous,” he spat out as those freaky blades of his formed on his left hand, the heat radiating all the way over to where Teddy stood. “Do I have ta call Strange or somethin’ ta get results? I thought you guys were supposed ta be good.”

Clarice’s back went stiff, and it looked as if she was about to snap at the man, when a voice rang out through the hallway. “That is an interesting suggestion, Mr. Wisdom.” Dean Tessa – Teddy should have paid more attention to dean of ‘what’, other than she seemed in charge of the university – approached them, dressed in a tailored black suit that appeared very expensive and a pair of red glasses that didn’t hide the intelligence and sharp gaze of her blue eyes. “Considering the normally effective defenses of this building, magic may be a very viable explanation of how these attackers manage to come and go with such relative ease.” She nodded to him once and then seemed to focus her attention on Teddy. “Good day Miss Ferguson, Mr. Altman.”

“That should be ‘Agent’,” Clarice reminded the woman with a slight hiss to her voice.

“Oh yes, my mistake.” Dean Tessa spoke with a flat intonation, almost as if she was part cyborg or something. “May I assume that this latest attack is over for the time being?”

“They appeared to have fled, yes,” Clarice agreed.

“Damn things are proving ta be annoying,” Pete Wisdom snapped before he turned around to head back to his wife’s lab. “Least they didn’t do too much damage.”

“No, or else you might have to find another place to conduct your research.” Dean Tessa ignored the obscene gesture Wisdom made in her direction and continued to stare at Teddy as if he was some sort of specimen, which was definitely making him nervous. “Let us hope they are done with the excitement for the day.”

“If not, we’ll be ready for them.” Clarice frowned as she stared at the other woman in return, at least until Dean Tessa turned her attention onto Clarice. “Everything okay?”

Dean Tessa appeared to consider the question for several seconds. “I’ve had two attacks within my campus over the past several days, attacks where SHIELD seems to be able to do little to apprehend the perpetrators. It doesn’t leave me with a feeling of confidence, I must confess. So excuse me as I take care of the rest of the campus that is still under my control and so far still not under attack.” She gave Clarice a slight smile before bowing her head the slightest bit. “Good day, *Agent* Ferguson.” She then turned around and went back down the hallway, her black skirt flaring slightly and her heels barely making a sound on the tiled floor.

Teddy watched her leave and felt impressed despite the obvious putdown to SHIELD. “Wow, that was cold, wasn’t it?”

Clarice seemed to be struggling not to look impressed at the moment. “Altman, over your career you’re going to have people who hate you for the uniform you wear, and who have no problem expressing that hate. That right now? I have to admit, it was done with a bit of class.”

“Duly noted.” Teddy tugged on the earrings in his right ear and hoped that this wasn’t going to make him late for his date with Billy – there would probably be a debriefing after his shift but that shouldn’t take too long, right? It wasn’t like it was his fault the enemy had gotten away, not after Hisako and Julian had failed to stop them the other night. “So… how upset is Agent Guthrie right now?”

He felt a sinking feeling when Clarice winced at the question. “Let’s just say it’s bad when he goes all ‘twangy’. And right now? It’s twang city.”

“Gotcha.” Teddy forced himself to let go of his poor right earlobe. “So, uhm, I’ll still be able to make my date tonight, right?” Billy would never forgive him if he called off another one so soon. “I mean, it’s not like- ow!”

“For crying out- what did I do to deserve you?” Clarice muttered as she rubbed at her forehead. “Yes, you can still see your precious boyfriend. No, you do not hug me out of happiness or get to do that sickening – oh my god, you’re *beaming*! Stop it!” she demanded as she held up her hands as if to cover her eyes. “The cuteness! I’m about to throw up!”

“Aww, you know you’re a softy at heart,” Teddy teased as he- yeah, no hugging his partner, he told himself as he wheezed from the punch to his sternum. Still, he grinned through the pain as Clarice made a gagging sound – and then attempted to appear serious when he caught sight of their team leader striding through the hallway with a furious expression on his face, James and Gabriel flanking him on either side. Oh shit, time to get serious, Teddy told himself as he straightened his back and clamped his mouth shut, determined to leave the talking to Clarice for the time being; let her explain how the creepy black things had escaped, and hope to make it through to his date tonight in one piece.

*******

“Anything you want me to fetch for you?” Nezhno offered while David fired up his spare laptop – the more apps he had running at the moment, the faster he could crunch all of the data he was pulling from Genosha University and the surrounding buildings, not to mention the electric grid, the main cell providers and a bunch of other corporations which wouldn’t appreciate their ‘confidential’ information being compromised by SHIELD.

“A four-pack of Red Bull and a large carton of Kung Pao shrimp.” He’d be here a while, at least few hours, hijacking and cleansing the data into something Gunthrie could use, something that could help pinpoint what were the things targeting Dr. Wisdom-Pryde’s work – and more importantly, how to stop them.

Nezhno nodded as he left, and David allowed himself some small bit of satisfaction at someone else running errands for him before he concentrated on breaking through the Genosha Department of Energy’s firewall so he could access their database; it was a longshot, accessing the grid like this, but some teleporters needed energy for mass ‘ports like what had happened earlier today and the other night, or left energy fluctuations behind. He’d learned that it was better to have too much information rather than too little so figured he might as well bring it all in rather than risk Guthrie’s temper.

Something was telling him that this was going to get complicated, that this mission was going to be one of the more difficult ones. He wished that he’d been on campus to fight with those weird creatures so he could get a lock on their talent, that there had been some viable video footage – but he would make do with what he had.

Tabbing through his windows to check the progress of various programs, he paused when he noticed that one of them was the app he used when digging into a person’s background. When had he opened this? Was he supposed to be checking on something? He didn’t have any specific leads yet, so it was a bit premature – he went to close it when there was a nagging sensation, a hint of a memory. Had he been working on something the other day? But what was it? Annoyed that he couldn’t remember anything, he left the tab when another program beeped to let him know that it was done, figuring that he’d come back to the page later and solve the mystery when he had more time.

********

Kate took a long sip of her iced mocha and sighed. “Oh yeah.” It was such a sunny and warm day here in Hammer Bay that the cool drink was a welcome relief.

Sitting next to her, Cassie giggled as she enjoyed her sugary frappuccino. “I should have a nice tan by the time we head home.” She held up her bare left arm, which glistened from a recent application of sunscreen. “Too bad that Dad’s stuck so much in the lab – he’s missing out on all this nice weather.”

“Somehow I think he’ll survive, since that’s what he came here for,” Kate reminded her friend; at least Cassie was able to enjoy herself and wasn’t stuck in the hotel room the entire time, like when Scott Lang had dragged his daughter to that one tech convention in Las Vegas that just so happened to coincide with a big swingers’ meet-up. Poor Cassie had spent the entire time in her room when her dad wasn’t there with her, that or bored out of her mind at the tech con.

“Yeah.” Cassie jabbed at the slushy mix in her cup with a contemplative expression for a few seconds, which made Kate wonder if she was thinking back to that Las Vegas con and a few others like it, and then she shook her head as she looked up and smiled. “Still, I hope he has some free time to wander around since it’s so beautiful here. He seems excited when I tell him about my day.”

She appeared so hopeful then, and Kate knew that despite Scott bringing Cassie on these trips and to events that he often got caught up in his work and so left her to her own devices – that was part of the reason why Kate had come to Genosha, to keep her friend company this time – that Kate decided that it was time to announce her big surprise. “Well, be sure to tell him to keep the 15th open, all right?” When Cassie stared at her in confusion, Kate swiped her phone and tabbed to an email that had been sent earlier that morning. “I heard back from that minister we ran into the other day, and it’s official – there will be four invitations to the annual royal gala waiting for me when I get back to the hotel today.” When Cassie’s blue eyes went wide and she continued to stare at Kate, Kate laughed. “Two of them are for you, you know. I thought maybe you’d want to take your dad.”

“What? Really?” Cassie dropped her half-finished drink onto the table and all but leapt from her chair so she could hug Kate. “Thank you! Oh my god, I can’t believe this! It’s incredible!”

Kate laughed at her friend’s enthusiasm, which almost made her spill her own drink all over the place. “It’ll definitely be interesting.” She normally wasn’t a big fan of fancy events like these, but it should be fun with Cassie there. “They say it’ll be a masquerade ball, so we need to hurry to find a proper dress and mask.”

All of a sudden, Cassie’s good mood lessened and she hurried back to her chair. “Oh, yeah, I forgot that it would be a formal event.” She ducked her head as she resumed playing with her drink. “I, uhm, I’m sure you can find-“

“Cassie,” Kate sighed as she set her own drink aside. “I know you hate what you feel to be charity, but let me buy you a dress, okay?” When her friend looked up with a stubborn expression on her pretty face, Kate shook her head. “It’s not like your dad is poor, it’s just that we both know he doesn’t make enough for something as fancy as this. So… consider it an early birthday present or something, all right?” She leaned forward until her elbows rested on top of the glass table and smiled. “It’ll be more fun if a friend is there, so let me treat you.”

Cassie sat there with her jaw set for a few more seconds before her expression crumbled into something resembling longing. “It would be fun, getting all dressed up and dancing, and having a chance to see the royal family.” She sighed as she began to toy with a strand of her long hair, the sun already lightening a few streaks to an almost white color. “Like you said, I’m sure Dad would try to buy me something, but I know he’s been saving up to get me a car and there’s college – it’s just a waste, spending the money on one night.”

Scott was doing his best for his daughter, and Kate had to respect him for that even if some of his other parenting skills weren’t the greatest. He’d probably make more money if he was involved in bigger projects… but bigger projects also contained bigger risks, is what Cassie had told her one day, something she’d overheard at a Stark dinner when her dad had been talking to the ‘big’ man himself about a potential job.

“But it’s not a waste for me – my father will be thrilled for me to ‘network’ at the event and won’t even notice if I throw in three extra gowns when I’m shopping for it, let alone one.” Kate waved her drink about as she sat back in her chair. “So meet me at the hotel tomorrow at… say 10 AM, and we’ll start looking for everything we need – dress, shoes, accessories.” Her eyes narrowed as she jabbed a manicured forefinger at Cassie, who was looking at her once more with wide eyes. “And you’ll show up early on the day of the event so we can get our hair, nails and makeup done together. We’re going to do this up right.” Cassie deserved to be spoiled a little, especially since Kate’s absentee father would be paying for it.

It looked as if Cassie would object to the plan for a few seconds, and then she giggled before she sipped her drink. “It’s almost a shame that I’m just taking my dad to the dance.”

“Hmm, well, if you manage to find a nice guy before then, let me know. I’m sure I can manage another invite,” Kate offered; she wasn’t about to mention that she already had a spare one – the one for Tommy.

Cassie shrugged as she tapped her almost empty drink against the table. “Nah, it’s okay.” Then she grinned as if she had just thought about something. “Besides, maybe I’ll meet someone really cute and rich at the dance! Oh, maybe I’ll hit it off with one of the princes!”

Busy finishing her iced mocha, Kate nearly choked upon hearing that; yeah, Tommy already thought of Cassie as something along the lines of a younger cousin, and Billy… Cassie so wasn’t his type, from what Kate had seen last night. “Maybe,” she managed to cough out after a few seconds. “That’s if both of them are there, the younger one doesn’t often show up to public events.”

She received a blank look for a few heartbeats. “Ah yes, William.” Cassie nodded as she finished her drink as well, a slight smile on her glossy lips. “But Prince Thomas should be there… and speaking about ‘Thomas’, how was your date with Tommy last night?” She pushed the empty container aside and propped her chin up on her left hand. “You haven’t said anything so far today.”

“Really?” Kate arched an eyebrow at her friend and laughed when Cassie pouted in return. “It was nice, though he’s going to have to make things up to me today – he sprung our double-date on his brother, the brat.” She shook her head as she removed the sunglasses she’d pushed up onto her forehead and began to toy with them.

“Really?” An only child, Cassie appeared shocked by such a thing. “Why would he do that?”

Kate laughed as she twirled the sunglasses about with her right hand. “Probably because Billy appears sane enough to not want to spend an evening with his brother when he could be alone with his new boyfriend.” She paused in twirling the sunglasses so she could stare at them, her thoughts going back to the previous night; she had been a bit nervous about meeting Billy despite her insistence that Tommy set up the double-date because of Billy’s mutant powers… and had been put at ease within minutes. Growing up surrounded by rich, jaded kids, by people who were used to being the center of attention for usually all the wrong reasons, who believed themselves to be so ‘special’ because of their money and their parents and… well, there was a weird kind of self-assurance that went along with that, and one thing that drew all sorts of negative attention was awkwardness, as it drew scorn and ridicule and rejection within seconds. Billy? Kate had been shocked to see awkwardness all but radiate out of the young man in pulses so heavy that her society ‘friends’ would have torn him apart in seconds. One of the royal heirs to the Genosha throne had sat across from her, a mutant so powerful he could alter minds and seemingly perform magic, and he couldn’t stop fidgeting for more than a few seconds, could barely look her in the eye, couldn’t stop blushing at his boyfriend or ducking his head….

Yeah, she had seen why Tommy was protective about his brother despite the putdowns, why the rest of the Magnus family kept ‘William’ tucked away almost as much as Princess Wanda. The fears she’d had about meeting someone who could control her mind in some way had faded and she’d enjoyed Billy’s sardonic humor, and had found an ally in putting Tommy in his place. “Yeah, he probably puts up enough with Tommy at home.”

Cassie laughed as she pulled out her phone and began to type out a message, probably to her dad. “So I’m sure he’s glad you’re here to keep his brother busy.” She smiled at Kate, her blue eyes bright as she wrinkled her nose. “Don’t try to tell me that you came just for me.”

Kate rolled her eyes as she slipped on her sunglasses. “I wouldn’t have come just for Tommy.”

“Hmm, no, but it’s awful convenient, me being here, no?” Cassie hummed as she continued to type away.

“Let’s just say it’s a happy coincidence,” Kate agreed, unwilling to get into her exact motives just then. “Whatever the reason, I’m having more fun here than renovating an old castle for my dad.” And putting up with Allison and her alcoholic boyfriend.

“Uh-huh, a cute boy is always more fun than a boring pile of bricks,” Cassie pointed out. “Throw in a nice beach and- oh, wow, my dad just said something about there being some sort of security breach at the university.” Cassie leaned forward over the table as she continued to tap onto her phone. “He said he’ll probably be there for a few more hours since he’s stuck in the lab.” Her dark brown brows drew together. “I hope they’re not giving him any grief – he was telling me a little about what’s going on the other night, that there’s some fancy independent scientist doing a big project in this one wing and a bunch of SHIELD agents keeping guard. He has to be careful because of his Stark connections – he doesn’t want anyone to think he’s here because of the project, even though the trip’s been planned for like, two months already.”

“SHIELD, huh? That doesn’t sound good.” Kate frowned as she tapped her nails against the edge of the table. “It must be important – I didn’t think that SHIELD and King Eric were on the best of terms.” It wasn’t often that one heard about SHIELD having any business on Genosha, as all security matters were handled by the Royal Guard.”

Cassie’s expression grew worried as she set her phone down on the table. “I know.” She chewed on her bottom lip for a few seconds. “Hopefully news of the ball will cheer him up some.” Then she groaned, the sound turning into a laugh halfway through. “At least, until he realizes that he’ll have to rent a tux!”

Kate laughed with her friend as she stood up from the table. “Oh the poor baby, at least he looks good in a suit and it won’t take him too long to get fitted. Now, since it looks like you’re on your own for a little longer, how about we start window shopping, hmm?” She figured that Cassie could use a bit of a distraction right now. “Just some browsing to figure out the local style so we’ll have an idea of what to get tomorrow.”

Cassie groaned again but was smiling as she picked up their cups and stood as well. “Oh, all right.” Her smile widened as she seemed to think about something. “Tommy’s not going to know what hit him, when he sees you all dressed up.”

“I dare say the poor boy is going to be in for a surprise,” Kate admitted. True, she had been dressed somewhat formal when she’d attended the one party and the luncheon at the palace with her father, but they hadn’t been as extravagant as the upcoming gala. Then she paused to think about how she was going to explain Tommy’s presence at the event to Cassie when he would be there as ‘Thomas’… ah well, she’d figure something out – maybe it would be time then to admit to her friend that she was… well, dating a prince. Now *that* would be a surprise. “Come on,” she urged Cassie as she linked their arms together. “We can start back on Cambridge Street.”

“Well, we’re definitely getting our exercise in!” Cassie laughed. “That should help us look good in those fancy dresses!”

Kate smiled as she dragged her friend along. “You might be taking home more than a bunch of souvenirs and a tan if you play your cards right!” While Cassie laughed some more, they headed back toward the shopping district.

*******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any mistakes! No beta, but I try to catch what I can...

**Author's Note:**

> And that's the first chapter. No set posting schedule for this as I'll be working on one or two other things, but I hope to get get parts of chapters up here and there on my tumblr (@nekojitachan) under #cannonballaufic.


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